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In Vitro Toxicology, Biodetection and Risk Assessment

Opinion

Context

Food may be assumed as a complex mixture of chemicals. Some are intrinsic components, including macro-and micronutrients, anti-nutrients and inherent toxicants, while others are extrinsic, either added or resulting from natural or industrial sources. In addition, process-related chemicals are formed during processing. To understand the health significance of food chemicals is complex. Many increase but others reduce nutritional value. Some may be associated with beneficial effects. A number have been shown to be harmful, producing toxicity. Therefore, chemicals must be managed to ensure that food is safe. Risk assessment, combining exposure and toxicological information, has been valuable to identify chemicals of concern on which management efforts should focus. Toxicological characterization is a resource-intensive and time-consuming process based on feeding experimental animals with high doses of the chemical investigated. Only a limited number of chemicals have been fully tested; for the vast majority of compounds to which humans are exposed, no data is available [1]. This raises the question of how to establish the safety of the numerous toxicologically uncharacterized chemicals.

In vitrotoxicology and hazard characterization

Currently the application of the standard toxicology approach to all known but untested chemicals is increasingly questioned from scientific, feasibility and ethical perspectives. The field of experimental toxicology is currently undergoing a major shift, moving from high dose animal studies towards more mechanistic and human relevant approaches. This is illustrated by large research initiatives such as Tox21, which combines the use of hundreds of in vitro assays with computational modelling [2]. In this framework, the concept of Adverse Outcome Pathways (AOPs) is acknowledged as a way to organize mechanistic information to be applied in risk assessment [3]. In the AOP concept, Molecular Initiating Events (MIE) are linked through pathways/networks of key events to adverse effects. The application of in vitro toxicology in such a context may require the use of human relevant cell systems adequately reflecting organ/tissue diversity and structural complexity together with the application of integrative modelling approaches according to system toxicology [4]. In addition chemical biotransformation must be considered. One of the additional challenges is the suitability of the test systems to cover the most important AOPs. This may be solved through the development of high-throughput toxicogenomic methods. To exploit the data in a context of risk assessment requires translation of in vitro concentrations into in vivo external doses which can be benchmarked against exposure estimates. Currently, methods based on determination of free concentration of the tested chemicals together with physiologically-based biokinetic modelling allow such in vitro to in vivo extrapolations (IVIVE) [2].

Biodetection

The increasing mechanistic understanding of toxic action and its translation into AOPs have triggered the development of cell culture-based systems (bioassays, biotests) to detect bioactivities relevant in term of MIEs and key events. These test systems are not designed to reflect normal human cells/ tissues, but have been constructed to optimize the detection of targeted biological activities (e.g. estrogen receptor activation, DNA-damage) [5,6]. They can be seen as bringing an analytical detection principle that is alternative to the usual physicochemical ones. Application of bioassays to pure chemicals provides insight into their intrinsic biological properties; in chemically uncharacterized mixtures, they highlight the presence of substance(s) associated with a particular activity. Biodetection systems have been successfully applied in many situations, such has for biopharmaceutical quality assurance, for assessment of medical devices and in environmental monitoring, e.g. water. They can significantly contribute to research and development to design intrinsically safe chemicals (green chemistry). They have been recently promoted as playing a potential role in the safety assessment of food packaging materials. The main strength of the application of bioassays is to establish priorities through early identification of chemicals of potential concern. In combination with analytics, relevant chemicals can be identified (effect-directed- analyses). Bioassays may also provide information on potential combined effects of chemicals in mixtures. With regards to risk assessment, bioassay data are rarely usable as such. In general, they must be anchored to more traditional analytical and toxicological information, or to in silico predictions for effective use in this context. For example effect-directed analysis may facilitate the identification and quantification of toxicologically relevant chemicals in a mixture. However, to address their safety significance, exposure must be estimated and compared to toxicological data suitable for hazard characterization [7]. Chemical grouping and read-across are increasingly recognized as an in silico methods to predict toxicological values usable for a risk assessment framework (to establish level of safety concern) [8]. This process consists of identifying analogs of the chemical under investigation (grouping) and extrapolating its toxic properties using toxicological data available for the analogues (read-across). Finding adequate analogs is not straightforward and cannot rely only on structural features. Bioassay data will likely play an increasing role in the definition of chemical analogs. In the case of exposure to a number of structurally similar chemicals, bioassay data may also be valuable to get insight on the need to apply principles of mixture toxicology for assessing risk [9].

    Summary and Conclusion

There is a recognized need to characterize the toxicological properties of a high number of chemicals to which humans are exposed. It is increasingly acknowledged that this cannot be achieved by applying a traditional approach based on toxicological studies in experimental animals. In vitro toxicology is thought to be an alternative approach which will play an increasingly important role for hazard characterization and risk assessment, bringing potentially more mechanistic and relevant information for the human situation. In vitro and molecular toxicology have triggered the development of molecular- and cell-based biological tools (biodetectors) designed to detect activities at specific targets. There are numerous potential applications; however, to serve risk assessment, biodetection data should in general be anchored to analytical and toxicological information.

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The Development Tendency of Environmental Sustainability of Domestic Enterprises and Institutions

Opinion

In the recent centuries, the increase in the global population has led to an increase in the aggregate demand for resources, their intensive use around the world. In an unprecedented and predatory way of using natural resources around the world in the course of the last centuries, has led to an accelerated depletion of their reserves, a significant degree of their degradation and, most importantly , it led to the introduction of new and exacerbation of existing global environmental problems, such as desertification, change (warming) of climate, the disappearance of rare species of flora and fauna, etc.

The aggravation of the above problems all over the world, expressed in the lack of acceptable resources for use, in a strong decline in efficiency and productivity in the frequency of a natural and climatic nature, bearing huge losses, contributed to the emergence of environmental problems and improved living standards, and also contributed to the emergence of certain conflicts. This became the basis for the fact that, first in 1992, then in June 2012, special UN conferences on sustainable development were held called “Rio + 20”, where two main problems were discussed: how to create a “green economy” to achieve sustainable development and the withdrawal of people out of the niche: and improving international coordination of sustainable development. Environmental protection (the ultimate goal of which is to improve the environment) is an integral part of sustainable development.

Summarizing the views of scientists, highlighted in domestic and world literature on sustainable development, we can conclude that the term “environmentally sustainable economic difference” means a transition to the formulation of the problem of environmental protection along with economic growth.

In the Republic of Tajikistan, before of becoming independence, industrialized enterprises were the main environmental pollutants. In this regard, the shows high environmental performance during the collapse of the Soviet Union and the acquisition of their Independence by the post-Soviet countries. As it can be seen from the data in the , many indicators have a growth trend starting from 2014 to 2018. At the same time, according to some indicators, the value is already approaching that in 1991, which is characterized by the creation of new workshops and enterprises in the republic in the mining and other sectors of the economy.

The amount of pollutants emitted from stationary sources in Dushanbe in 2018 amounted to 397.6 thousand tons, which is 25.1 thousand tons more than in 1991. This suggests that the volume of industrial production in Dushanbe, if not reached the level of 1991, but the volume of emissions already exceeds that of 1991, which indicates the poor state of affairs in the environmental protection activities of industrial enterprises in Dushanbe. In Sughd and Khatlon regions, this indicator will be 36.3 and 5.6 thousand tons respectively. In the city of Tursunzoda, the amount of contaminating substances escaping from stationary sources in 2018 is 14 thousand tons, which is 65.9 thousand tons less than in 1991, which is associated with a significant reduction in production activity under the influence of certain objective and subjective factors. Also, due to compliance with environmental legislation, the company carries out certain work to minimize the impact of the company’s production activities on the environment through the construction and acquisition of treatment facilities and technologies [1].

In the composition of harmful substances in emissions, mainly solid, gaseous and liquid substances prevail. One of the directions of environmental policy should be the processing of waste and the use of harmful substances in order to minimize their impact on the environment. Statistical data indicate a low degree of organization of work in this area in the republic. So, if in the 1991 base year the amount of harmful substances used was 499.0 thousand tons. In 2018, this figure is 10.9 th. tons. And compared to 2014, it decreased by 6.6 times. This is characterized by the absence of enterprises for the processing and use of waste, low work at enterprises for the recycling of waste, low work at enterprises for the secondary use of waste, as well as underdeveloped activities for the collection and processing of waste and based on the production of new types of products [2].

Among the sources of emissions, a significant place is taken by mobile sources, which account for 92.2 percent of emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere from stationary and mobile sources in 2018. In 2018, emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere from mobile sources amounted to 561.1 thousand tons, which is 82.2% more than in 2017. While during this period, the increase in precursors into the atmosphere from stationary sources is 3.2%. It suggests that at the moment the main air pollutant is public and personal road transport, the number of which has increased dramatically in recent years. Considering their impact on the environment, the government of the republic in 2018 adopted a special Resolution, in accordance with which the receipt of vehicles below 2005 is subject to an increased customs duty [3].

In the composition of emissions from mobile sources in 2018, 67.7% are carbonic acid oxide, 19.3% nitrogen oxide and 12.6% carbonhydrides. One of the problems in the efficient organization of environmental protection activities is the lack of financial resources and the low level of investment in the industry. In 2018, fixed assets were put into operation at current prices in the amount of 10287.4 thousand somonis, capital investments were made in the amount of 9632.7 thousand somoniss and completed construction and installation work in the amount of 9632.7 thousand somonis. At the same time, the indicated amounts of financing are accounted for only for bank protection works, and investment funds have not been allocated for the protection of atmospheric air and wastewater treatment, which indicates a low level of investment in environmental protection and inappropriate use of natural resources.

In the context of the transition of our republic to an industrialagrarian economy, we consider it expedient to carry out the following measures by business entities in order to enhance their environmental sustainability: an increase in funding for environmental protection, construction of treatment facilities and the purchase of treatment equipment, - full-scale landscaping of adjacent territories - organization of waste-free production, processing and recycling of waste - renewal of production assets and the use of good-quality raw materials and materials in production, - organization of work to exchange experience, use of advanced technologies and best practices of enterprises of developed countries in the practice of domestic enterprises.

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Alternative Production Processes of Calcium Silicate Phases: A Review

Abstract

Calcium silicates production by alternative methods to solid state reaction method has gained importance because of the possibility to obtain materials with higher performance and less energy consumption than the traditional process. Exploring the application of non-conventional methods for the production of cementitious materials is an interesting alternative to produce materials with high performance, as nanoparticles, which are expected to permit high reactivity of the phases. The alternative methods require more studies allowing to understand the individually and the combine effects of synthesis processes conditions over the particles properties.

Keywords:  Synthesis; Alternative methods; Calcium silicates; Clinker; Portland cement; Pure cement phases

    Considerations

Global demand of cement is increasing year by year in a factor of 25; therefore, greenhouse gas emissions from this industry are growing in significant amounts. Nowadays, CO2 emissions for cement production correspond almost to 5-8% worldwide, which is a motivation to find solutions to reduce the environmental impact. Some ways to attack this problem are applying new technologies, improving current technology, and using alternative cement substitutes and alternative fuels [1].

Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) is a popular construction material traditionally obtained by the combination of limestone and clays. The main component formed during its fabrication is the clinker, which is composed by four main phases, alite (Ca3SiO5 or C3S), belite (Ca2SiO4 or C2S), celite (Ca3Al2O6 or C3A) and ferrite (Ca4Al2Fe2O10 or C4AF). The calcium silicate phases, alite and belite, are responsible of the development of mechanical properties, such as compressive strength in construction structures, while aluminate phases, celite and ferrite, play a role in the setting time of cement and durability of concrete [2,3].

Pure cement phases with nanometric size have been obtained by non-conventional methods such as Pechini, sol-gel and self- propagating combustion, which showed good results to the formation of the cement matrix. The first work in the study of pure cement phases was done by R. Roy and Oyefebesi in 1977 using the sol-gel method [4]. Since then, different research have been done in the study of the process effects on the formation of cement polymorphs and their reactivity, considering the anhydrous and hydrated compounds [5-12].

The study of cementitious materials, such as pure cement phases, allows the understanding of phenomena related to hydration chemical reactions of clinker, enabling the improvement of cement properties in macroscopic systems and providing more information about the influence of atomic position on the level of reactivity of the structure in single crystal systems [3,13].

Production and performance improvements of cementitious materials allow the reduction of energy consumption and mitigate the negative impacts of cement industry. Most strategies are focus on the improvement of clinker performance and alternative processes for its production. Hence, this paper shows a review of research focused on the synthesis of cementitious phases, especially the calcium silicates alite and belite, through non- conventional methods.

Polymorphs of calcium silicate phases and their hydration activity are a broad topic that is strongly studied around the world. The wide amounts of variables make of this topic a complex research, which is why there is not a single answer to the phenomena that occurs in cement phases formation and hydration.

The use of alternative synthesis methods with control over the process conditions in the production of cementitious phases allows manipulation of products features, and therefore a better understanding of the crystal structure of the cement phases and the hydration mechanism to improve the properties of the cement [14].

Alternative synthesis methods as Pechini, sol-gel and selfcombustion are become important because of the possibility of reducing the energetic consumption process and produce nanoparticles with superior features than traditional powders. However, all of them are batch methods, which is a limitation to scale-up the process. Therefore, it is important the implementation of continuous methods which allows the scale-up of the process.

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Bioluminescence: Chemical Study on Visible Light Emission from Fungal Mycelium and Fruiting Body

Abstract

Although the visible light emission by living organisms is generally thought to be rare, in fact the bioluminescent phenomenon can be widely observed in nature, for examples insects, fishes, bacteria, and fungi. The phenomenon has intrigued scientific researchers over the years.The chemical mechanisms underlying bioluminescence differ between species. Some mechanisms, such as bioluminescence of firefly, jellyfish, bacteria, and dinoflagellate, have been elucidated and further more their principles have allowed the development of many novel technologies in agriculture, biology, ecology, and medicine. However, many other bioluminescence mechanisms yet remain to be understood. Further research of bioluminescence will lead discoveries of biological significance and novel possibility in science. Here I present studies on chemical mechanism underlying fungal bioluminescence, which are actively in progress.

Keywords: Bioluminescence; Chemiluminescence; Fungus; Luciferin; Luciferase; Mechanism

    Mini Review

Bioluminescence is the emission of visible light by living organisms, such as bacteria, fireflies, fishes, ostracods of the genus Cypridina, and jellyfish of the genus Aequorea [1]. The bioluminescence phenomenon has been arousing fascination in human and curiosity in scientists from a long time ago (Figure 1). Detailed chemical principles in bioluminescence have been disclosed by biological, organic, and physical chemists since 1950's, and then it has been understood that the bioluminescence phenomenon is caused by energy conversion of chemical energy to light energy via chemical reactions in bioluminescence systems. Moreover, the bioluminescence principles have been applied in many scientific fields such as agriculture, biology, ecology, and medicine [2]. Since instrumentation for measuring light is very sensitive and low background, chemiluminescence methods based on the bioluminescence principles has come into widespread use for quantitative determination of specific substances in many scientific fields. Bioluminescent organisms use their light, which possesses various colors, periodic patterns, and intensities, for self-defense against predators, camouflage, intra specific communication, or attracting mates or prey [3].

Fungal bioluminescence is also widely observed on decaying wood or leaves in night. Thus, the phenomenon is called “foxfire” or "shining wood”. The total number of documented species of luminous fungi by 2016 is more than 80 [4]. Fungal bioluminescence, which varies among species, occurs in the basidiocarp, mycelium, spores, or in Trends Tech Sci Res 1(3): TTSR.MS.ID.555565 (2018) their combinations [5-7]. Although fungal bioluminescence generally shows lower intensities than other bioluminescent organisms such as fireflies and ostracods, the light emission from fungi is continuously generated for day and night. Thus, total light emission from certain bioluminescent fungi may be comparable with that of firefly. The color of fungal bioluminescence is commonly green. With regard to functions of fungal bioluminescence, Olivera et al. reported that fruiting bodies of bioluminescent fungus Neonothopanus gardneri can attract potential spore dispersing insects by glowing [8]. On the other hand, Weinstein et al. reported that Australian fruiting bodies of bioluminescent fungus Omphalotus nidiformis did not attract the insects [9]. The mycelium is underground or inside a decaying wood. It is possible that fungal bioluminescence is a by-product of metabolism, and possesses no function. Functions of fungal bioluminescence yet remain to be understood.

In spite of the wide popularity of fungal bioluminescence, chemical mechanism underlying fungal bioluminescence has been subjected to far less scientific investigation than the bioluminescence from other sources. In 1668, Boyle reported that air was needed for the light emission of shining wood [10]. Although many researchers studied on chemical mechanism underlying fungal bioluminescence, their efforts were unsuccessful until Airth's group showed positive results using bioluminescent fungi Collybia velutipes and Armillariamelleain 1959 [11]. Airth et al. reported that the bioluminescence was NAD(P)H-dependent luminescence reaction, in which unknown substrate (luciferin), molecular oxygen, water-soluble enzyme, and water-insoluble enzyme (luciferase) were involved [1113]. However, after that, the luciferase and luciferin were not isolated and their structures and luminescent properties were not determined. Kuwabara and Wassink isolated a luciferin, which displayed chemiluminescence in the presence of H2O2, in a crystal form from the mycelia of Omphalia flavida [14]; however, its chemical structure was not reported.

Shimomura demonstrated a negative result with regard to the Airth's luciferin-luciferase reaction to the fruiting body bioluminescence of the luminous fungus Panellus stipticus; the precursors, panal, PS-A, and PS-B (Figure 2), of light-emitting compounds were isolated from the luminous fruiting bodies that upon activation with ammonium or primary amines, emitted light in the presence of H2O2 and Fe2+ or in the presence of superoxide anion and molecular oxygen [15,16]. Moreover, Shimomura purified the chemiluminescent activation products that were produced by reaction of the precursors with methylamine, and inferred the possible structures of the activation products using the model compounds of the precursors [17]. These activation products or compounds corresponding to the activation products in the P. stipticus fruiting bodies have not yet been found. Subsequently, Shimomura analyzed the interrelationships between the bioluminescence and the superoxide dismutase activities using six species of fungi, including P. stipticus (fruiting body and mycelium), and demonstrated that superoxide dismutase regulated the bioluminescence activity [18]. On the basis of these findings, Shimomura suggested that, unlike Airth's luciferin-luciferase reaction, P. stipticus bioluminescence was not a luciferin-luciferase type. Shimomura also suggested that superoxide anion triggered the bioluminescence reaction in the presence of molecular oxygen for generating light.

In 2012, Oliveira et al. reported the hypothesis that all known bioluminescent fungal lineages share luciferin- luciferase reaction shown by Airth's group [19]. In 2015, Yampolsky's group reported that and trans-3-hydroxyhispidin, which played as luciferin with water-insoluble luciferase, was produced from trans-hispidin with molecular oxygen and NADPH in the presence of water-soluble hydroxylase for mycelia bioluminescence of Neonothopanus nambi (Figure 3) [20]. Then, Yampolsky's group reported that and trans-3-hydroxyhispidin was oxidized to (2Z,5E)-6-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-2-hydroxy- 4-oxohexa-2,5-dienoic acid(oxyluciferin) as a light emitter in the presence of a luciferase-enriched protein fraction prepared from N. gardneri and N.nambi mycelium (Figure 3) [21]. Trans - 3-hydroxyhispidin is a strong “candidate” of luciferin in N. gardneri and N.nambi mycelia at the present time. Luciferase has been successfully extracted from N. gardneri and N.nambi mycelia and partially purified [21]. Therefore, it is distinct that these mycelia possess luminescence systems involving trans-3-hydroxyhispidin. In the future it is necessary to elucidate whether these luminescence systems generate true bioluminescence in the living N. gardneri and N.nambi mycelia or not, and whether similar bioluminescence systems involving trans-3-hydroxyhispidin exist in other bioluminescent fungi or not.

Although various fungal species have been used for chemical research of fungal bioluminescence over the years, mycelia were subject for the research, except for Shimomura's experiments above mentioned. Some researchers believe that bioluminescence mechanism for all bioluminescent fungi should be the same, and that chemical mechanism behind bioluminescence in mycelia and fruiting bodies is the same. Because bioluminescent fungus Mycena chlorophos (Figure 1), which was found in Southeast Asia [22] and can be cultivated in laboratory [23,24], produces continuously bright light in the mycelium and pileus gills, in which light is produced in cell membrane [25], this species is a suitable for evaluating those hypotheses. Teranishi has been chemically investigating bioluminescence mechanism of this fungus using living tissue. Generally when fungal tissue is crushed, bioluminescence is immediately stopped. Because the crushed tissue losses the bioluminescence ability, the crushed tissue and extracts from the tissue cannot be used for luminescence assays. Recently Teranishi demonstrated that trans-4-hydroxycinnamic acid and trans-3,4-dihydroxycinnnamic acid in gills increased the bioluminescence intensity in living immature gills of M. chlorophos, which emitted weak light [26,27], and that other cinnamic acids shown in Figure 4 did not influence the original light emission. Moreover, the light emission before and after addition of trans-4-hydroxycinnamic acid ortrans-3,4-dihydroxycinnnamic acid to gills was inhibited by addition of trans-4-aminocinnnamic acid, whereas trans-2- and trans-3-aminocinnnamic acids did not inhibit the light emission [28].These results indicate that trans-4- and/or 3,4-di-hydroxycinnamic acids contribute to bioluminescence in M. Chlorophos living gills, and that the hydroxy group at position C-4 intrans-cinnamic acid plays an important role for producing the energy for light emission. Although Teranishi reported that the combination of NADPH and hispid in was not essential for the production of bright light in the living gills [29], bioluminescence ability of trans-3-hydroxyhispidin yet remains to be elucidated. Investigation for understanding the chemical mechanism underlying bioluminescence observed in M. chlorophos gills and mycelia is in progress.

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Scientific Substantiation of Introduction of Differentiated Agricultural Systems, Increase of Productivity of Agricultural Production

Abstract

As a result of the agrarian reforms implemented in the Republic of Azerbaijan, the basis for the dynamic development of agriculture was created. Major changes have been made in the agrarian sector, new economic and property relations have been formed, the normative legal base has been improved. An important issue has been raised to improve the quality of erosion lands and the productivity of agricultural crops.

Keywords:  Humus; Soil; Erosion; Layer; Ostepennye; Not washed

    Introduction

For solving various practical issues and in the first place, the most rational distribution of crops and increase their productivity soil must be evaluated, taking into account their quality and its changing under the influence of industrial activity.

To that end, it had explored common at the site soil research natural areas. Their evaluation was performed from the basis of agrochemical and water-physical properties of soils, impact their erosion and yield of different Soils crop farming zone estimated reserves of humus, nitrogen, phosphorus, absorption capacity and some water-physical properties in 0-20cm 0-50cm and 0-100cm of soil layers.

Scientific and reasonable accommodation, differentiated farming system on the basis of the evaluation provides an opportunity to improve crop productivity. Among soils agricultural zone natural fertility indicators highest impact mining nesmytye Brown ostepnennye soil. Taken as a “benchmark”. Points remaining soils distributed in these areas also are calculated as a percentage of the standard. To manage associations and groupings of soils comprising the agricultural zone and heavily used in agricultural production, they are grouped into the following five groups: land better, good, medium, low and very low dignity. In a fairly fractional grouping soil laid down the objective indicators of soil fertility and their productivity [1].

At the same time grouping based on commonality land allows rationally and purposefully uses soil from the agricultural point of view. The following will focus on agroproizvodstvennoj characteristic of designated groups. S Group-land better dignity. This group includes mining and nesmytye Brown ostepnennye soil, area of 9565, 0 hectares or 23, 89% of the total area of agricultural areas of evaluation scores 81.

Stocks of humus, gross phosphorus and nitrogen absorption capacity in 0-20cm of soil layers is 124,11 t/ha; 7,23 t/ha; 6,21 t/ha and 38,87mg/eq on 100 g of soil in 0-50cm layers respectively 223,42 t/ha; 15,41 t/ha; 12,62 tons/ha and 38,17mg/eq on 100g of soil, and in 0-100cm layers of 327,32 t/ ha; 18.26 t/ha; 17,65 t/ha and mg/eq 41,23 on 100g of soil [2].

For soils of this group did not require special erosion control activities. In order to maintain the natural fertility of these soils vineyards, ploughing, seeding and tillage should be conducted across a slope, to observe the erosion, and agricultural activities. ENJOY Group-land of good merit the land Area is 13783.5 hectares, or 11.24% of the total area of agricultural zone. They are priced ranging from 61 to 80 points on the bonitetnoj scale. This group includes the slabosmytye mountain-Brown, ostepnennye nesmytye and slabosmytye mountain grey-brown, nesmytye and slabosmytye mountain dark brown (dark grey-brown) and floodplain meadow soils Figure 1.

Stocks see 0-20 layer of humus in these soils reach 57, 63 -95, 12 t/ha, 0-50cm layers of 131, 89-208, 20t/ha, and the meter layers 186, 44 -301,32t/ha. Compared with the first group, this group is less assured in nutrients. Gross nitrogen content and gross phosphorus in 0-20cm kalebletsja layer in the range from 3.57 to 5.29tons/ha and 3.28-4.97t/ha, 0-50cm layers of 7,80 -11,31t/ha and 7,80 -11,60t/ha, and the meter layers respectively 9.10 -16.12t/ha and 11.16 -18.88t/ha. In 0-20, see tank takeover layers varies between-36.27 28.32mg/eq on 100g of soil, and in 0-50cm layers respectively 27.50-36.04mg/ eq on 100g of soil. When you use these lands must follow the General Agro technical measures protective nature envisaged for lands S Group [3]. To maintain and improve the productivity of vegetation and prevent erosion on pasture standards must be respected to settlements pastures for and enter the moving system of grazing, to make chemical fertilizers. Good graphics, decent game play Group-land of the middle area of the dignity in that group of soils is 8130,0 hectares or 20,30% of the total area of the agricultural area.

These soils are evaluated in 41-60 points. This group comprises small and srednesmytye mining-Brown, ostepnennye slabosmytye mountain grey-brown, slabosmytye mountain-dark brown (dark grey-brown) and the nesmytye mountain light brown (light greyish-Brown) soil. In these soils, stockpiles of humus, gross gross phosphorus and nitrogen absorption capacity in 0-20cm layer vary between 60.24 -63.01t/ha, 3.78 -3.84t/ha, -3,35 2,83t/ha and 28,77 -30,43mg/eq on 100g of soil, and in 0-50cm layer 87,78 -131,89 respectively, t/ha, 5,32m/ -7.86 ha, -6,05 5,99 t/ha and 27,71 -30,17mg/eq on 100g of soil [4].

When using the medium need dignity lands activities implement agro technical measures of a general nature applicable to land first and second teams, and the eroded sections carry out anti-erosion agricultural activities. The eroded areas of arable land use strip crops and strip buffers from perennial grasses. If necessary, a small part of the plots on arboraceous over 20° used for crops, perennial grasses, then using them as hayfields. Introduced mineral fertilizers. On slobosmytyh sites, reduce grazing on rule 25% due to nejerodirovannyh plots and observe the sequence of grazing. Rocky areas cleared of stones. YV Group-land of low land worthiness this group is 8115, 0 hectares or 20,27% of the total area of agricultural zones, they are priced from 21 to 40 points. This group includes the silnosmytye mountain-Brown ostepnennye, medium and silnosmytye mountain-Brown, medium and silnosmytye mountain dark brown (dark grey- brown) and the slobosmytye mountain light brown (light greyish-Brown) soil [5].

Stocks of humus in 0-20 see these layers of soil reach 36.83 -60.72 t/ha, polumetrovyh layers of 73,36 -115,29 t/ha, and the meter layers 126,69 -241,80 t/ha. Gross reserves of nitrogen vary in 0-20 see layers from 2.79 to 3.84 t/ha, gross phosphorus 1,78 -3,00 t/ha, absorption capacity -29,65 26,16mg/eq on 100g of soil, and in 0-50cm layers accordingly: from 5,32 to 5,90 t/ ha, 3,93 -6,30 t/ha, and 23,84 -27,86mg/eq on 100g of soil [6].

To restore the soil fertility in srednesmytyh and silnosmytyh areas it is necessary to carry out the planting of perennial grasses and apply erosion event, featured for all previous groups to settlements pastures for pasture grazing rules on reduced 50%.

In Group-very low land worthiness. This group includes silnosmytye mountain gray-Brown and Silnosmytye Mountain dark brown (dark grey-brown) soils and evaluated up to 20 credits. These lands is 667.5hectares or 1.67% of the total area agricultural zone. Stocks of humus, gross phosphorus and nitrogen absorption capacity in 0-20cm layer accounted for 33.26-36.54 t/ha; 2.02 -2.42 t/ha; 1.51 -1.94 t/ha and 25.02 -26.40mg/eq, and in 0-50cm layer respectively 78.08 -81.25 t/ ha; -5.00 3.84 t/ha; 3.20 -3.75 t/ha and -24.82 23.56mg/eq on 100g of soil. When you use these lands must observe activities previous land groups, and to restore the strongly rarefied grass would need additional erosion event, stone-clearing, etc.

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The Performance and Association of Emergency Medical Technicians at Emergency Dispatch Encountering International Tourists

Abstract

Objective: To explore the self-satisfactory service and association of emergency medical technicians at facing emergency dispatch when encountering international tourists.

Method: Within the period from September to November in 2016, we delivered 970 questionnaires to Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) who worked in the fire departments of Taipei City (220 copyies), Kaohsiung City (540), and Chiayi County (210). A total of 937 eligible respondents completed their responses with a return rate of 96.59%. Data including personal demography, technician expertise ability, emergency experience (34 items), foreign language ability, self-satisfactory service level, and suggestions to the issue for improving ambulance services treating international tourists (6 items) were collected. We (1) proposed a model with 7 hypotheses and used Smart-PLS software to examine their path coefficients effective, and applied Rasch model to calibrate item parameters of these two scales(i.e., 34items for experience in emergency and 6itemsfor suggestions).

Results: The results show that only 4 hypotheses were supported onto the proposed model. The three factors (i.e., foreign language ability, technician expertise ability, and emergency experience) can predict the self-satisfactory service level rather well. Only foreign language that can negatively influence suggestions to the issue for improving ambulance services treating international visitors. Item-person map using Rasch analysis shows that the most frequent incidence is the traffic accidence. The least occurrences are drowning, physical discomfort, heat failure, and heat cramps. The highest score endorsed by EMT on suggestions is to offer training courses associated with improvement of emergency ability in future. The rare suggestion with a low score is to set the APP in ambulance services used for treating international visitors.

Conclusion: The Partial Least Squares (PLS) path model using Smart-PLS can clearly explain the self-satisfactory service level that is predicted by three factors. Suggestions are recommended to relevant government departments for a reference applied to strategy planning and action taking in future.

Keywords:  Foreigner; Tourist; Ambulance technician; Language; Travel

Abbreviations:  EMT: Emergency Medical Technicians; MNSQ: Mean Square; PLS: Partial Least Squares; SEM: Structural Equation Modeling; TPB: Theory of Planned Behavior.

    Introduction

With the increasing convenience of international tourism and traffic, people travelling to the world for sightseeing, overseas trips and the short-term jobs are also sharply increased. As Taiwan government launched a policy of the so- called "multi-dimensional layout to focus on the whole world” with a series of active marketing approaches, the foreign tourists have been seen with a rapid growth at an approximate 10.43 million tourists to Taiwan in 2015 [1]. A survey in 2015 conducted by a Taiwan magazine [2] reported that all citizens in a total of 10 cities and counties accounting for two-third Taiwan population being perceived with the prosperous phenomena of tourism improvement and development. Developing tourism becomes a major focus and directions for each mayor in Taiwan city governments.

The number of foreign tourists to Taiwan increased the number of emergency injuries and the call for helps dialing 911 is relatively increased. However, the foreign language faced by the Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) is a challenge due to the lack of standard operating practices and training course that can be applied to training EMT when facing foreign tourists at emergency treating situation. According to the statistics of foreign tourists treated by Taipei EMTs, the number has been increased 5.8 times from 115 tourists in 2006 to 667 in 2017. The top two sources in recent 10 years for Taipei city are attributed to common incidents (35%) and emergency diseases (26%). Others are those including general trauma, fall injury, car accident and roadside falls. The incidence of emergent illness is thus increased year by year with an obvious trend. The performance and association of emergency medical technicians at emergency dispatch facing international tourists are interesting topics worth exploring.

Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)

Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and ambulance technician are terms used in some countries to denote a health care provider of emergency medical services. EMTs are clinicians, trained to respond quickly to emergency situations regarding medical issues, traumatic injuries and accident incidences. Under the Taiwan system, they are grouped into three types consisting of elemental EMT-1 (Emergency Medical Technician-1 needs 50-hour training course), Intermediate EMT-2 (Emergency Medical Technician-2 needs 280-hour training course), and paramedic EMT-P (Emergency Medical Technician-Paramedic needs 1280-hour training course), respectively.

Study hypothesis research model

Ajzen [3,4] proposed Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) in 1991, which is a rigorous theoretical framework to provide prediction and explanation of examinees' intentions to behavior. TPB has been successfully applied to provide a better interpretation of diverse behaviors in western settings [5,6]. According to TPB theory, three determinants--including attitude (i.e., whether I want to or not to support something), subjective norms (i.e., whether others encourage or limit me to support or not to support something), and perceived behavioral control (i.e., whether I have opportunities and resources to do or not to do something)--exert their effects on behavior through intentions [3] presented. Through the TPB, we can apply it to this study and define followings:

i. Suggestions from EMT (behaviors) can be affected by the EMT performance (intention),

ii. The one with a lower performance will raise more suggestion to the EMT team for further improvement, and

iii. EMT performance is affected by the types of EMT (i.e., attitude), personal experiences in EMT (i.e., subjective norms), and the foreign language ability (i.e., perceived behavioral control) (Figure 1).

Using PLS-SEM for verity the research model effective

Using PLS-SEM for verity the research model effective

Partial least-squares(PLS) model [7-10], one of the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) has been popularly used in many academic fields, such as management information [11], marketing [12], strategy management [13], accounting [14], family and business research [15], operation management [16], and in organizational research [17]. The method is currently regarded as suitable and, to some extent, a favorable alternative to the more restrictive traditionally used Covariance based SEM (CB-SEM) method [18]. In this study we are going to use PLS for exploring the performance and association of EMTs at emergency dispatch facing foreign tourists.

Aims of the study

This study aims at:

a. Verifying the seven hypotheses effective in Figure 1.

b. Analyzing the difficult scenes (i.e., occurrence frequency) EMT treated and experienced in Taiwan.

c. Disclosing the suggestions and rankings of their frequency raised by EMTs.

    Methods

Data source and research tools

Within the period from September to November in 2016, we delivered 970 questionnaires to Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) who worked in the fire departments of Taipei City (220 copies), Kaohsiung City (540), and Chiayi County (210). A total of 937 eligible respondents completed their responses with a return rate of 96.59%.

Questionnaire contents comprise personal demography, technician expertise ability, emergency experience (34 items), foreign language ability, self-satisfactory service level (one item), and suggestions to the issue for improving ambulance services treating international tourists (6 items). We verified the aforementioned study model with 7 hypotheses and used Smart-PLS software [19] to examine their path coefficients effective, and applied Rasch model [20] to calibrate item parameters of these two scales (i.e., 34 items for experience in emergency and 6itemsfor suggestions). The Likert-type 5-point ordered categories were applied to both 1-item self- satisfactory service and 6-itemsuggestion questionnaires. The higher score means the more performance and the stronger suggested tendency.

Data analysis

Four analyses were listed using description statistics as below:

a. Chi-square test was applied to verify the number of demographical characteristics (e.g., age, work tenure, education level) consistently distributed between variables and gentle.

b. The 34 dichotomous experience items (i.e., a binary response yes or no to the scene or incidence EMT faced in the past 2 years) were analyzed by Rasch model for calibrating parameters of item difficulty and person ability on a interval log it (=log odds) continuum using an item-person variable map (or say, Wright map in educational and psychometrical fields) [21,22].

c. The seven hypothesized path coefficients Figure 1 were verified by the bootstrapping method using Smart- PLS software [19]. The significant type I error is set at 0.05 level.

d. The suggestion item scores were analyzed by the Rasch Wright map to identify which one is harder (i.e., with a lower score) or easier (i.e., with a high score).

Using PLS-SEM for verity the research model effective

The reasons for the PLS-SEM path analysis [19] accepted by many academic researchers in recent years are those:

i. Not like CB-SEM requirement of large sample size and data following normal distribution random sampling;

ii. PLS-SEM is a non-parametric method with a lenient criterion of small sample size and data being distributionfree to investigate the cause-effect relation in a model [23,24];

iii. The PLS-SEM was developed in many published papers [5,6,25,26].

Rasch model

The Danish mathematician Georg Rasch formalized the requirements of invariance for measurement on data in a mathematical model which is unidimensional and probabilistic [19]. Since invariance is an integral property of the Rasch model, any test of the fit between the data and the model is a test of the extent to which the data show invariant properties with respect to the criterion of invariance tested if an instrument works invariantly across individuals or across sample groups depending on which test of invariance is assessed [27,28].

In this study we used Rasch model to analyze the difficulties(i.e., occurrence frequency) for items(i.e., scenes) EMT faced and experienced in the past two years, and disclose the suggestions to the issue for improving ambulance services treating international tourists and ranking their frequencies raised by EMTs.

Statistical tools and analyses

SPSS 22.0 for Windows (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL) was used to conduct

i. The description statistics,

ii. Chi-square test on the consistent distribution of the number between demographical variables and the gentle.

Rasch Win steps software [29] was performed to estimate parameters. All the statistical significances were examined by the criterion of type I error at 0.05level.

    Results

Demographical statistics

The sample includes male EMT accounting for 95.4%, female (4.6%) (Table 1). The age ranges are 30 or under (27.0%), 31~40(46.1%), 41~50(24.1%), and 51 or above (2.8%). In education level, the police college accounts for 57.5%, university (23.5%), and others (0.5%).

The job titles include team member (87.8%), chief (7.2%), captain (3.5%) and others (1.5%). The most number about service area is in Kaohsiung City (56.0%). The most work tenues are those 5 years or under (23.6%) and 6~10 years (23.2%). The types for EMT professional expertise are those EMT-2(86.0%), EMT-P (12.1%), and EMT-1 (1.9%). The self-assessment reports that 526 (56.8%) with competence in foreign language, and  411(43.2%) without confidence in dialogue or conversation using an appropriate foreign language. The count number of distribution is consistent and proportional to the pattern of gentle to other demographical characteristics such as job title, service area, and EMT profession type (Table 1).

The experience scenes and their frequencies

The Rasch item-person variable map(called Wright map) in Figure 2 shows that the In fit Mean Square Error (MNSQ) indices are all within 0.88 and 1.19(i.e., less than the criterion of 1.5), indicating the scale regarding the experience encountered in emergency scenes is unidimensional and probabilistic [19] fitting to the Rasch model rather well.

The most encountered incidence is traffic accidence. The least occurrences are those drowning, physical discomfort, heat failure, and heat cramps which are harder items (i.e., with a low frequency) shown at the top right-hand side. The easier (i.e., with a low number of count) items are shown at the bottom right-hand side in Figure 2. The average log it score across all items is zero. The person abilities are dispersed on the left-hand side. We can see that most persons are located below the reference at zero log it, indicating few EMT have the experience in emergency incidence encountered with foreign tourists. That is, the summation score is small in comparison with the total score (i.e., the 34 scenes or items).

Verifying the hypotheses in the study model

Using the bootstrapping method in PLS-SEM to examine the path coefficients effective for the study model (bottom in Figure 1), four hypotheses are supported when the t-value is greater than 2.0. There are foreign language ability, types of expertise, and the emergency experience, all of which significantly affect the self-assessment performance, see the bottom in Figure 3. In addition, the foreign language ability can negatively affect the extent of suggestion aspiration, indicating that those without confidence in foreign language yields a high score (or tendency) in suggestions to the issue for improving ambulance services treating international tourists.

The analysis of suggestion items using Rasch Wright map

The Rasch Wright map in Figure 4 shows that the Infit MNSQ are within 0.89 and 1.17 (i.e., less than the criterion of 1.5), indicating the scale of suggestions to the issue for improving ambulance services is unidimensional and probabilistic [19] fitting to the Rasch model pretty well.

The highest score endorsed by EMTs on suggestions is to offer training courses associated with improvement of emergency ability in future (see the bottom at the right-hand side in Figure 4). The rare suggestion with a low score is to set the APP in ambulance services used for treating international visitors (see the top at the right-hand side in Figure 4).

The person measures are dispersed at the left-hand side in Figure 4. Most of those respondents are located at the top greater than the item mean at zero logit, indicating that many endorsed this suggestion scale with a positive and concrete response to each item. A few with a low score at the left bottom around -2 logits in Figure 4 present extremely disagree responding to these listed suggestions.

    Discussion

The results show that only 4 hypotheses were supported to the proposed model. Only three factors (i.e., foreign language ability, technician expertise ability, and emergency experience) can predict the self-satisfactory service level. The foreign language is the only one that can negatively influence suggestions to the issue for improving ambulance services treating international tourists.

Item-person map using Rasch analysis shows that the most frequent incidence is traffic accidence. The least occurrences are those drowning, physical discomfort, heat failure, and heat cramps. The highest score endorsed by EMT on suggestions is to offer training courses associated with improvement of emergency ability in future. The rare suggestion with a low score is to set the APP in ambulance services used for treating international visitors.

What This Adds to What Was Known

We verified that these three factors (i.e., foreign language ability, types of expertise, and the emergency experience) can affect the self-assessment performance. The result is consistent with the TPB model proposed by Ajzen [3,4] which reported that intention comes from three factors of attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. The difference is that the intention (denoted by the personal self-assessment performance in this study) cannot predict the quantity of the suggestion in action (i.e., behavior). We can explain that the selfassessment satisfaction cannot be a reference to the suggestion tendency because some with high performance are reluctant, but some others are willing to express their own opinions for improving ambulance services. However, the foreign language ability is negatively associated with the quantity of suggestion, indicating the person with less confidence in foreign language raises more suggestions to the institute.

The Rasch Wright Map [20,21] has been popularly used in educational and psychometric fields [30]. The map is subject to the scores yielded by Rasch analysis [31] because only Rasch score that has been transformed to a logit score can be interval and additive.

The most and the least scenes encountered by EMTs are traffic accidence and those drowning, physical discomfort, heat failure, and heat cramps. The difference is beyond 6 logits. Basically on the interval basis, the odds is appropriately at 403(=exp(6)), which means that the probability to see a foreigner encountering traffic accidence is around 99.75% (=exp(6)/(1+exp(6))) frequently more than those rarely happened incidence above mentioned. The visualized representation using Rasch Wright map is easily interpreted and explained according to the item and person dispersion on an interval logit continuum.

What It Implies and What Should Be Changed?

The PLS-SEM in Figure 2 shows that these three factors (i.e., foreign language ability, types of expertise, and the emergency experience) can affect the self-assessment performance. Referring to policy of "multi-dimensional layout to focus on the whole world” launched by Taiwan government with a series of active marketing approaches, what main effort should be made is to strengthen the foreign language ability for EMTs as to increase their performance and service satisfaction in future.

Another main finding is the suggestions proposed most by those EMTs with less foreign language ability, see the negative coefficient (-0.172) in Figure 3. The urgent demand for the foreign language ability might be verified and supported in this survey.

Strengths of This Study

The framework of this study is to investigate the self- satisfactory service and association for EMT facing emergency dispatch when encountering international tourists that can be generalized to other relevant tourism businesses and industries, such as taxi, hotel, and police in foreign affairs.

Lee et al. [32] applied PLS-SEM to explore tourism behaviors and experiences from different cultural backgrounds to see tourists in Taiwan night markets, indicating that PLS-SEM is an appropriate method for use in investigating the tourism affairs.

By searching the PubMed database (Pubmed.com), we got 56 papers with the term of Emergency Medical Technician in title as of September 2, 2017, implying that EMT is a world-wide issue and attracts many researchers to study on the relevant topics. However, no such an EMT study like we did regarding the EMT foreign language ability was found in Medline library till now.

Limitations and Future study

The interpretation and generalization of the conclusions of this study should be carried out with caution. First, data were collected from Taiwan three government cities (i.e., Taipei, Kaohsiung, and Chiayi). The result from Figure 3 cannot be generalized to other cities or nations. Accordingly, it is worth mimicking the approaches used in this study to investigate more other EMT areas for further verifying the phenomena whether they are similar to the current study.

Second, we only put efforts on macro factors (e.g., foreign language ability, profession expertise, and EMT experience) instead of the micro features such as the confounder and mediator factors. Whether some demographical variables (e.g., gentle and age) that can intervene the prediction variable is merit to further investigate in future.

Third, the experience scale (34 items) was designed with a dichotomous format, not like the polytomous response perceiving the frequency of emergency incurrence so as to increase the test reliability. From Figure 2, we can see many EMTs on the left bottom part without any item (on the right bottom side) matched, which will decrease the test reliability due to the large measurement error in existence [31]. Finally, due to the research budget limitation, the current study merely collected data from Taiwan three government cities. Whether there is any difference found in other relevant businesses such as taxi, hotel, and police in foreign affairs is required for further studying.

   Conclusion

The Partial Least Squares (PLS) path model using Smart- PLS can clearly explain the self-satisfactory service level that can be predicted by the three factors of foreign language ability, technician expertise ability, and emergency experiences. Suggestions to the issue for improving ambulance services treating international tourists are recommended to relevant government departments for a reference applied to strategy planning and action taking in future.

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Urban Mining: The Indium Issue

Abstract

Indium, and indium-bearing alloys, are components found in a series of electronic devices of widespread use; at the end of this useful life, and due to its price and scarcity, the recovery of this element, from these devices, is of interest. Hydrometallurgical processing can be a solution to match this issue.

Keywords:Indium; E-Wastes; Recovery; Hydrometallurgy; Urban mining

    Introduction

  Indium is a metal presenting some special features, alone or combined with Indium Tin Oxide (ITO), which made of it a unique component in a series of electronic equipment’s. Indium Tin Oxide (ITO, or tin-doped indium oxide) is a mixture of indium (III) oxide (In2O3) and tin (IV) oxide (SnO2), typically 90% In2O3, 10% SnO2 by weight. It is transparent and colorless when deposited as a thin film at thicknesses of 1000-3000 angstroms. When deposited as a thin film on glass or clear plastic it functions as a transparent electrical conductor.

 The main use of ITO in industry is to create electrodes in the form of thin, transparent films on liquid crystal displays, which can be LCD, OLED, electroluminescent or electrochromatic, as well as many touch screens. ITO is normally deposited by a physical vapor deposition process such as D.C. magnetron sputtering or electron beam deposition [1,2]. ITO is used in several display technologies, such as LCD, OLED, plasma, electroluminescent, and electrochromatic displays, as well as in several touch screen technologies [3,4].

  The production of e-Wastes in the world was 53.6Mt in 2019 (quote) (Europe, 12 Mt and Americas 13.1Mt). The value of the raw materials contained in e-Wastes is about 57 billion USD. Only 17% of the world’s e-waste production is collected and treated [5]. Given the scarcity of raw materials (indium is usually obtained as a by-product in zinc processing), the production of indium from post-consumer products (urban mining) is becoming an environmentally viable and economically very interesting solution.

 The indium recovery process in e-Wastes (LCD, OLED and other screens types) starts with a dismantling stage to obtain the ITO-containing foils (Figure 1a). These sheets are constituted by a quartz layer, sheets of a plastic material and ITO coatings. These sheets (1 mm thickness) are then crushed and ground to obtain a product with a particle size of less than 90μm (Figure 1b). A typical composition of this ground material, in majority elements, expressed in g/kg of ground material would be as follows: plastic: 460; SiO2:325; Al2O3: 62; SrO: 31; SnO2: 1.9; In2O3: 0.6. With this second step, a homogeneous material is derived, material which feed a third step of acidic leaching, with the objective to put into solution all the indium contained in the previously obtained concentrate.

 It may be clear that indium is not the unique element in the above solution, thus, this multi-elemental solution must be treated to separate indium from the rest of accompanying metals. A typical composition of the solution obtained after leaching, expressed in mg/L, is as follows: In: 9.0; Sn: 9.7; Sr: 93.6 and Fe: 210. A very interesting proposal to achieve this separation is using liquid-liquid extraction technology [6-9]. Nowadays, this industrial technology is used in the hydrometallurgical processing of gold, copper, zinc, cobalt, nickel, etc [10]. In this case, the main steps for the processing will be as:

 a) Iron removal from the leaching solution. Basically, this iron appeared from the grind/milling operation.

 b) Indium recovery from the raffinate (aqueous solution) derived from the previous step.

  c) Yielding of a new raffinate (second aqueous solution), having not indium, but containing an appreciable strontium concentration, the approach to its recovery may be also of interest.

These steps will be performed with industrial extractants as being solvation reagents, amines and/or their ionic liquid derivatives; the above dissolved in a suitable industrial organic diluent. As an example, the next figure (Figure 2) showed the results derived from the treatment of a real leaching solution derived in the treatment of electronic scraps. It can be observed that using a high Va/Vo (volume of leaching solution/volume of organic) relationship, iron is removed from the leaching solution, and indium (plus hydrochloric acid and strontium) being present in the raffinate.  

 In a second step, using this raffinate and employing a low Va/Vo relationship, indium is almost quantitatively recovered in the organic solution. From this second step, a second raffinate containing strontium is yielded (see point (c) above). In the case of iron and indium, these elements can be stripped from the correspondent organic solution using a suitable strip aqueous phase. Indium can be finally recovered from this solution. The residue from the acid leaching stage, consisting of a mixture of quartz and plastic, is subjected to an electrostatic separation process to obtain an amorphous quartz fraction (Figure 3a) that can be reused and a plastic fraction (Figure 3b) that can also be reused for the manufacture of new plastics. This process, which is still in the development phase, would allow full utilization of the materials contained in the screens and is a good example of the application of urban mining concepts to e-wastes.

    Conclusion

Under the concept of urban mining, the use of hydrometallurgical operations can be a solution to the recovery of indium from end-of-life electronic components, making feasible the recycling of this valuable and scarce metal in new products, and extending its useful life.

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Method of Assessing the Degradation of Agricultural Land

Abstract

The article considers the methodic of optimization of the ratio of farmland in the typical landscapes non-Chernozem zone of Russia, on the basis of the analysis of the characteristics of their device and the adaptive responses of plants to the land. The first stage is to study the peculiarities of the morphological device of agro geo systems, the main parameters which are the values of the squares composing them of Elementary Geochemical Landscapes (EHL). Based on the study of the natural environment of EHL carried out the analysis of their production potential and determine the nature of the potential distribution of land within agro geo systems. The potential structure of the land refers to the ratio of their maximum possible space in the agricultural landscape. It is revealed that geo complex not significantly differ in the maximum possible arable land, but the character of the distribution of hayfields and pastures, their specificity has a significant impact. During the "landscape of production” structure optimization of land potential structure transformer a it on the basis of a farm's specialization, and the proportion and location within the forests, wetlands and other nonagricultural areas. In the "ecological landscape” of the optimization, advanced calculation parameters "adaptive” structure of the land, based on the analysis of the dependence of plant productivity from areas of land. Comparison of "adaptive” and "po-tential” structures allows to determine the environmental limits of resistance of landscapes to anthro¬po¬ge¬no¬us press..

Keywords:   correlation meadows, forests and arable land in agricultural landscapes; structural parameter of degradation of the landscape.

Abbreviations: EHL: Elementary Geochemical Landscapes; AGS: Agro Geo Systems; EGL: Elementary Geochemical Landscapes

    Introduction

The idea of zoning of agricultural lands has been expressed in the landscape-geographical concept of Dokuchaev VV [1]. According to Lykov AM et al. [2] evaluation of the ratio of the areas of Autonomous, transitional and accumulative landscapes will objectively determine the necessary combination of the main lands: meadows, forests and arable land. This article covers methodological approaches to determining the ratio of meadows, forests and arable land in typical landscape conditions of Russia's non - black earth zone (large-hilly plains on moraine loams, "opolias” - moraine-erosion plains on pulverized loams and "woodlands” - flat sandy plains). They are based on the analysis of features of micro landscape device of territories and adaptive reactions of plants on parameters of grounds.

The first stage of optimization of the land structure is the study of micro landscape device Agro Geo Systems (AGS). The morphological structure of agro geo systems is characterized, the main parameters of which are the average values of the areas of Elementary Geochemical Landscapes (EGL). There are the main types of EGL:

1. Eluvial, located on the tops of hills and characterized by a downward current of water and nutrients. The balance of matter here is negative.

2. Transit- Occupying slopes of hills and ridges. Their distinctive feature is the lateral (parallel to the surface) transfer of water and nutrients. The balance of the substance here, in the absence of erosion processes, close to neutral.

3. Accumulative-Occupying depression and low places. The main geochemical process here is accumulation of water and nutrients from ground and alluvial waters. The balance of matter in these locations is generally positive.

When describing the natural environment of EGL, in order to determine their limiting effect on the production process of crops, first of all, the factors underlying their agro ecological classification are taken into account [3]. The characteristic is given on the basis of the analysis of field data, literature, stock and statistical materials. On the basis of this information, the analysis of the production potential of the main types of EGL and determine the nature of the potential distribution of land within the study area. It is caused by the most probable direction of exploitation of the studied EGL.

    Summary and Conclusion

Based on the mapping data on the area of EGL and operating characteristics of the land determine "potential” structure of the land. It determines the ratio of the maximum possible areas of land, due to the genetic characteristics of geo systems and their morphological structure. "Potential” structure assumes full use of the territory of the landscape in agricultural production. On its basis it is possible to draw preliminary conclusions about the orientation of the use of territories. For example, the studied geo complexes do not differ significantly in the possible area of arable land, while the nature of the distribution of meadow lands specific geo systems has a significant impact. If on the birefied sediments there is a practical equivalence of the areas of hayfields and pastures, then on the cover loams of the pasture are distributed slightly, due to the strong tendency of these geo systems to erosion, suffocation and water logging and weak resistance to overgrazing.

In the mode of landscape and ecological optimization, in addition to the potential structure, the parameters of the "adaptive” structure of the land are calculated on the basis of statistical analysis of the dependence of crop productivity on the area of land in farms. This structure reflects only the requirements of cultures to the spatial structure of the landscape. In the process of its determination, pair polynomials describing the dependence of crop yield on the parameters of land within the territory are calculated. The optimal values are considered to be the parameters of the land corresponding to the maximum yield of the crop. The inflection points of the limit curve of optimal or critical intervals of parameter values of wetlands. In the case of a graph, the function close to linear is determined only by the general nature of the dependence of productivity on the parameters of the land. When directly proportionate to the increased area of land contributes to increase crop yields, while inversely proportional to the decline.

The dependence of crop yields on the share of arable land in the landscape due to the fact that in small cultivated areas plants suffer more from weeds. Within them it is difficult to apply intensive methods of soil treatment, chemicalization and plant protection. When the share of arable land in the economy exceeds a certain norm, the processes of soil degradation - erosion, water logging, mineralization of humus, etc., increase. Under optimal proportion of arable land in agriculture in most cases there is maximum crop yield, as it creates the best combination of agro-ecological and production factors for its cultivation. The influence of variability in the proportion of hayfields on crop yields can be explained by the fact that, on the one hand, they have a beneficial effect on the hydrological and thermal conditions of the terrain, contribute to the accumulation of humus in soils, improve soil structure, etc., and on the other, are the source of weeds. The optimal proportion of hayfields favorably affects the microclimate and soil fertility and does not lead to intense clogging of fields. The total share of pastures and hayfields is meadow farmland. In addition to the impact on the energy and hydrology of the landscape, they are sources of organic matter coming in the form of manure on the fields.

The "optimal” structure of the land is determined by comparing the parameters of the "adaptive” and "potential” structures. First, the ratio of arable land an area of "adaptive” and "potential” structures is calculated, which is the coefficient of conversion of land area. Given the close values of these parameters, as is the case in large-scale landscapes, the "adaptive” structure of the land is not subject to significant correction. In” Opole "landscapes the ratio of the area of” potential "arable land to the area of "adaptive” is 0.8. This value is the conversion factor for all land. Thus change of their areas does not lead to transformation of ratios of a meadow, the wood and arable land. In cases where within the agro landscape it is impossible to allocate enough space for any type of meadow land clarification of the share of hayfields and pastures is carried out. So in "Opole” landscapes the areas suitable for pastures do not exceed 1.5%, while for the adaptation of crops pastures should occupy 12-14% of the total area of the landscape. In this case, all suitable areas should be taken under cultural pastures, and the deficit of organic fertilizers should be compensated by grazing on deposits and in forests.

Comparison of the parameters of the "adaptive” and "potential” structure of the agro landscape allows determining the ecological boundaries of the territory's resistance to the anthropogenic press. So, if within farms share of arable land is less than the potential value, and its location generally coincides with the potential, we can say that composing his geo complex are in a condition of sustainable ecological balance. When the share of arable land exceeds the potential norm, but does not reach the adaptive, we can talk about the unstable ecological balance in the agro landscape. It can only be maintained by spending additional anthropogenic energy. If the arable land share exceeds the values of the "adaptive” parameter, irreversible degradation changes occur in the landscape.

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Definitions of the Degree of the Potential Erosion Danger of the Mountain Brown Soil of Azerbaijan

Abstract

On plots of fields under crops under crops, the signs on which it is possible to determine the degree of erosion of soils are the inside covering and plant heights. With the enthusiasm of the steepness of the slopes, the possibility of using cultivated crops as indicators of soil erosion decreases. The degree of soil washout period of natural forage lands can be assessed on the basis of the dependence of the existing between the plant stand and the degree of soil erosion. Strongly eroded soil of slope meadows can be recognized by ecological care regimes of habitats of vegetation.

Keywords: Eroded; Humus; Medium-washed; Bioclimatic; Dense ground-cenoses; Steppe

    Introduction

In the context of Azerbaijan, the process of erosion has become a large development, calling for a washout, erosion and deflation, etc. types of unwanted consequences of destroying the aggregate properties of soils.It is expressed most clearly in the soils, cultivated in rain fed conditions in the example object. The aim of achieving completeness solvable problems of land management, erosion or potentially dangerous erosion should be deeply know every plot of land in the region, its features that can influence the choice of crops in the territory of the possible only as a result of deep surveys the territory. We should also recognize that the stronger are affected by erosion of the soil, the more they differ from their unwashed analogues on chemical, granulometric composition and physical and chemical properties, water, air and thermal regimes of biogenic and other indicators, which together affect their fertility and erosion resistance [1].

The moves and discuss the results of the study

As a result, undertaken under the direction of Aliyev BH [2] research jointly with experts of the Polish Institute of technology revealed that soil erosion is reduced humus content. However, the margin when 0-50cm layer in nesmytyh mining and steppe similar Brown soils is 168t/ha, in a very slabosmytyh-156t/ha, slobosmytyh-135t/ha, srednesmytyh- 108t/ha, silnosmytyh-65t/ha, and in very silnosmytyh-32t/ha. In eroded soils not only decreases the total humus content, but also decreases the contents of mobile forms of humus acids. According to the author, these changes are the stronger; the more are affected by erosion of the soil.

It is believed that the decrease of humus acids leads to lower fertility, conservation of soil resistance to deterioration. This same decline, in General, proportional to the reduction of nitrogen in the soil. Shortage of available forms of nitrogen is one of the important reasons for the decline of fertility of eroded soils.

Regularity also reveals decreasing r2O in moderate washed out soils by 30% and - stronger washed away- more 50%. Reduction of organic phosphates and phosphorus forms insoluble increase leads to deterioration of phosphorus nutrition of plants. In eroded soils are often reduced content of potassium. Thus, its agrochemical characterization of soil washed away are substantially different from unwashed. Hence arises the need for differentiated fertilization in soil with varying degrees of erosion [3].

Results of laboratory studies found that eroded soils differ significantly from not eroded on physical properties. In the eroded soils decreases the content of waterproof structural aggregates.

And so, if in the upper horizon of mountain-unwashed Brown step-down soil durable water content of the aggregates is 52% very slabosmytyh-48%, slabosmytyh-42%, srednesmytyh-30%, strongly washed 18%, and in very silnosmytyh-8%. The number of units of less than 0.25mm increments (Table 1).

Not eroded soils are distinguished from eroded visible differentiation of soil profile and greater capacity. Well allocated arable and 2 layers [4]. In the past appears gray- Brown shade effect of alluvium horizon. Subsurface layer is visibly detectable seal and meet the selection of carbonates. Structure of silt-clotted, and Virgin soil-clotted well expressed. The degree of erosion for each soil type is set, depending on which part of the soil profile washed away or deformed horizon from which topsoil is emerging, what is the average percentage yield compared to harvest on/non-eroded soils, and the steepness of slope in degrees.

The degree of erosion of soil also depends on the shape of the slope, its length and exposure, the correctness of management, anti-erosion of sustainability, which includes a variety of mechanical, chemical and physical properties. Therefore, on the slopes of the same slope soils can be one, but different subtype of erosion [5].

The average harvest is a very important indicator in determining the degree of erosion. In the field soil fertility was determined visually by morphological hallmark of a soil profile and as plants on this site. From the data Table 1. It can be seen that as the degree of erosion decreased the power of the horizon a + b and reserve of humus within certain limits.

It should be noted that the supply of humus (in tones) is calculated taking into account the nitrogen and phosphorus. In addition, data on crops as listed in the classification of eroded soils, somewhat understated. Our nursery (2008-2010) studies have shown that the harvest of winter wheat at very little eroded mountain-Brown soils in the rolling average is reduced to 10% for medium-up to 25% of eroded, and the strong eroded h-up to 75% compared with crops on soils which not subject to erosion/and approved the results of long-term researches of experts of Institute for land reclamation and grassland of the NDP. To achieve this goal, the potential dangers of erosion mapping based on local characteristics of soils, we adopted the following grouped by degree of soil erosion.

Eroded land, which is set depending on the steepness and slope exposure, the depth of local bases, erosion degree of erosion, the nature of the underlying rocks, belonging to one or other agricultural lands. Graduation steepness of slopes for arable land was taken as follows: 0-1; 1-3; 3-5; 5-8; 8-12 and more than 12. Other land: 0-1; 1-3; 3-5; 5-8; 8-12; 121-20; 20-30; 30-45 and more. On the slopes following graduation be taken exposure: North, Northeast, Northwest, East, West, South West, South East and the South.

Where depth graduation local bases were taken following erosion: 0-20; 20-50; 50-100; 100-150; 150-200; 200-3004 300-400; 400-500; 500-600; 600-800; 800-1000m and more. According to the degree of erosion of different categories of eroded land kept as soil one degree of erosion and their complexes.

Also take into account the nature of the underlying rocks and their density. For each of the selected groups and categories of eroded land have been given recommendations on their use and application of counter-erosion activities [6,7]. As the above selection basis relied eroded land are soil maps that reflect all the contours of eroded soils and farmland. While used and supporting special cards steepness, exposure, slopes and depth of local bases of erosion.

In recent years there has been significant growth in the areas of eroded soils that required for thorough research and allocation of eroded land, which was not previously considered. Consequently, the question arises of the diagnostic study of indicators for measuring the degree of erosion of soil. Sometimes use indicators that determine risk of erosion. For example, in some cases, assessment of erosion of arable soil set based on the data distribution of arable land on the slope. Of course, the steeper slopes, so all things being equal on them increases the degree of soil erosion [8].

However, these are not always equal terms, so the soil more steep slopes may be less inclined than are affected by erosion (Table 2) as can be seen from the table, in the north-eastern part of the Greater Caucasus arable land on terrain conditions are more acceptable-pleasant than the South-East or South of the Greater Caucasus.

Therefore, the soil cover is relatively less eroded. This is largely due to the relatively higher conservation soil stability, acceptable-pleasant rainfall and soil-protective role of vegetation. Acceptable-pleasant rainfall and soil protection role of vegetation. Soil erosion studies in Azerbaijan showed that factor exposure slopes more often affects distribution of eroded soils than the steepness of slopes.

Distribution of arable land on the steepness of the slopes and soil erosion administrative areas of the northeastern part of the Greater Caucasus. Therefore, when conducting a survey in the forest zone, the mountain-brown soils, stepped on one of the areas with a slope of 15-200 on the southern slope of highly prone soil erosion, were found on the slopes of the northern exposure with a slope of 15-200-weak erosion.

It was found a great influence on the distribution of soil exposure. So on the slopes of the Northern exposure when slopes 8-12° mountain-brown stepped soils wash is 19.2m/ ha, while similar conditions southern exposure reaches soil washout 45.8m/ha. If on the slopes of the southern exposure medium and highly prone to erosion, soils occupy 41.2% of the area, on the slopes of Northern exposure in similar circumstances-just 9.8%.

Square units of each category and groups of eroded land have been calculated, taking into account the genetic soil types. As a result, became possible be explication of eroded land of Azerbaijan. In explicating contains data on the number of each type of eroded soils varying degrees of erosion on slopes or another surface, consisting of various agricultural land. Further synthesis of erosion of land is to bring them into the Republican maps, where, with the aim of zoning activities rise shows the dependence of the soil cover. To highlight eroded territories the following gradation of the basis for the allocation of eroded land. Based on the data mapping of eroded soils, as well as the cameral works compiled map of soil erosion of the Azerbaijan Republic with the following application:

Area lack of erosion

o Do not subject to erosion under forests;

o Not prone to soil erosion, natural senecos and occupied marsh vegetation;

o Soil, confined to such lands, as deposits, gardens.

Area subject to erosion: Depending on the amount of soil with varying degrees of destruction of genetic horizons lands are divided into five groups:

Very little eroded land: Where weakly washed a difference constitute no more than 10% and silnosmytye soils are not available.

Weakly eroded land: Where the total area of eroded differences is 25%. Area weakly washed -20% medium degree washed away soil-not more than 5%, and strong degree washed away soils are not available.

Middling soil eroded: Only up to 50% of eroded soils. Square of contours with medium soils eroded reaches 30%, slightly eroded-to 15% and heavily-eroded -up to 5% and very heavily-eroded is 10%.

Heavily eroded soils: Jerodirovannost soils is about 75% of the total area. Of these, silnojerodirovannye-40%, - medium- eroded- to 25%, and very silnojerodirovannye-10%.

Highly heavily-eroded soils: Eroded area accounted for more than 75%. Very silnojerodirovannye-bolee 50%, medium, heavily-eroded -more than 25%.

Given our experience, we fully share the views of F.s. Kozmenko, g.a. Presnyakova, S.s., Sobolev K. Alekperova, m.n. Zaslavsky that coloring the top layer of soil can be taken as the rate of erosion.

In not washed -colour dark brown: Humus content-5%, nitrogen-0.30%, fosfora_0, 22%, capacity-35m/ekv absorption on 100g of soil, structural units resistance to water -mm over 1km with 52% .

Very poorly washed away: Horizon and washed not more than 20%, the color of the soil a little different from unwashed (dark brown). Humus content in the upper horizon is 4.6%, nitrogen-0.28%, phosphorus-0.19% absorption capacity- 32.5mm/ekv on 100g of soil, the number of water resistance units over 1 mm 48%. Yields below 10% than that unwashed.

Poorly washed away: Horizon and from 20 to 50% washed soil color Brown, humus content-4%, nitrogen-0.24%, phosphorus-0.16%, absorption capacity-CIECA 28.8 to 100g of soil, the number of water resistance units-48%. Yields below (from 10 up to 25%) unwashed soils.

Medium washed away: Horizon and washed away completely. soil color is light brown, humus content-2.8%-0.18% nitrogen, phosphorus-0.10%, absorption capacity is 23.8 CIECA on 100g of soil, water resistance units-30% productivity below from 25-50% than that of nesmytyh.

Heavily washed away: Wash off the horizon ini, the color of the soil -j yellowish with brownish tinge. The content of humus-1.2%-0.08% nitrogen, phosphorus-0.05%, absorption capacity is 14.5 to 100g of soil CIECA, water resistance units-18%, yield-from 50 to 75% (Table 3).

Very heavily washed away: Rinse off completely the soil layer on the surface of exposed, loose and hard woods.

General provisions for the classification of eroded soils are the following: selection of diagnostic indicators to determine degrees of erosion of soil, suitable quantity allocated to degrees of erosion soil standards to ascertain their degree of erosion. For mining-Brown soil erosion degree stepped is invited to determine to reduce genetic horizons and reduce the content of humus in the horizons of a + b. very weak i eroded t is recommended to classify the soil in which the compared with non-eroded the reduction and horizon to 20% and up to 10% of humus, to weakly eroded respectively 10-25% tomedium-eroded%,2 5-50-silnojerodirovannym-50-75%. This graduation offered, taking into account the variation in the humus content in soil and unwashed laboratory error definitions [9].

Determination of the degree of erosion of soils based on quantitative change in humus content in the surface layer of soil-is an accurate and objective method that can be used in exposed soil mapping mining-Brown soil and stepped close to him on the genesis of soils.

Natural hayfields and pastures, is constantly covered with vegetation, considered the most effective form of conservation lands. However, due to the deprivation of the protective cover on the slopes increased run-off of soil, which contributes to erosive process.

In their geographical distribution of erosion on pasture appear in a certain area of subordination, which is confined to certain areas and bioclimatic is a product of the evolution of the bio-climatic Wednesday.

Depending on the degree of development of erosive process, the nature of vegetation and soil generic breeds, each selected type of erosion is divided into subtypes and variants.

Grouping of eroded soils of the Republic covers the main natural-landscape zones, taking into account the landscape and climatic conditions of each zone [10].

Highland climate differs harsh long protracted winter snow and frost. Summers are short and cool. The average annual temperature does not exceed 3.2-4.1°, and the coldest month (January) range from -4.6-7.9 °C, the temperature of the warmest month (July) is low, ranging from 12.9-13.7 °C; the sum of temperatures above 10° very low and average does not exceed 800-600. Duration of the frost-free period 1-2 months, vegetation period lasts 90-120days. Average number of approximately 610-1210mm, moisture ratio 1.52-1.22, total solar radiation (annual) changes within 144-156kcal/cm2. For the climatic indicators of the whole territory of the Highlands refers to wet (MD<0.45) and cold (IT>800) climatic type.

Floristic composition of the vegetation is extremely heterogeneous and varies with altitude. In the most elevated part of the vegetation canopy cover not provided-groups rocky (lichens, algae, etc.) For the Alpine meadows are typical dense-ground meadows with cereals components. Subalpine meadows are represented by grain cereals, grasses, thickets of rhododendron and in relatively dry parts of meadow-steppe communities. The main soil types are: mountain-meadow, mountain-forest-meadow and mountain-meadow-steppe. Agricultural production is weak, the zone largely occupied by wealthy summer pastures and mowed lands and are the basis for the development of transhumance (sheep) and fodder production.

Alpine and subalpine meadows, the main area which is occupied by pastures, soil erosion is the factor, which is closely linked areas. Stripped of protective vegetation, soil sloping land can't absorb the snow and rain water. This leads to an obsession with surface runoff which enhances Ripple Rivers. As a result of violations of the hydrological regime of the territory, this is due mainly to the removal of forest and grassy vegetation, knocking in the rivers of the mountain areas often seen very strong fluctuations in the volume of river flow. The large loss of runoff regime of river runoff deteriorates, like snow, and especially the force of snowfall years. This, in its turn, reduces irrigation capacity of rivers on the territory of the foothill Plains, necessitates the use of large irrigation and reclamation work.

Erosive processes that resulted from the degradation of the vegetation of pasture, contributing to a sharp drop in the productivity of pastures. Therefore, soil erosion and deterioration in the quality of grass-processes are closely linked. A well-developed natural grass cover markedly increases the resistance of soils and erosion of the leach ate may run off.

A development process of erosion affects not only the quantitative indicators of pasture plants, but also leads to a restructuring of phytocenosis. From the total area of 2402.3hectares of mountain pastures over 1985, 8 thousand hectares or 82.7% are prone to erosion.

A pasture depending on sub-band and exposure of the slope wash soil varies 50 to 125m3ha. From these studies derives great economical importance is the study of pasture erosion in mountainous areas and the development of techniques to prevent and fight against it. When developing differential measures for the improvement and rational use of pastures, there is always a need for classification and grouping of grazing land for their quality status.

It should be noted, however, that classification pasture erosion has now developed enough. Moreover, even the phenomenon of erosion on pasture do not found a definite place in the common grouping of erosive processes, although the nature of the manifestations of pasture erosion is very much different from other types or categories of erosion.

On the classification of eroded soils of mountain pastures known works of some author: VA Meeting, DJ Mihjlova, SW Kerimhanova.

In these works gives grouping soils grazing on a degree as they are destroyed. In the forms of accelerated erosion caused by human activities, have a lot in common. However, according to and from the reasons caused the manifestation of erosion, these forms have their own characteristics.

The character manifestation of soil erosion of mountain pastures pretty sharply differs from erosion on cultivated hillsides. Erosion processes on the pastures start to develop normally, since damage to the turf.

Mountain pasture soil destruction process has no similarities with the formation of gullies and potholes. The length of the pits not always exceeds their width, and availability under lower-powered soil layer waterproof dense rocks brings not on no growth pits deep. Further growth in the size of erosion pits usually occurs through the broken walls, sliding down the slope of sod places preserved woven roots and reminiscent of education in the second stage of its development. Raised near each other erosive pits are often steep walls and expand, incorporate among themselves, forming patches or streaks of eroded soil. As the further destruction of the soil occurs more or less gradual alignment of through the shedding of micro relief, and under the influence of sloping lands runoff.

This specificity of the appearance of erosion on mountain pastures requires, firstly, providing pasture erosion in independent or category subtype, secondly, development of appropriate soil classification according to the degree of their erosion.

Based on long-term observations, taking into account the peculiarities of the destructive processes of soils under the influence of the unrestrained grazing of livestock, it is proposed that the draft classification pasture erosion on erosion degree (Table 4). This includes the sequence of tufted deformation process layer.

Research indicates the possibility of using cultural vegetation cropland and grass native grasslands in order to clarify the erosive soil survey data.

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Novel Techniques for Communication Engineering Problems

Abstract

Nature inspired meta-heuristic based approaches are likely to dominate the conventional numerical and deterministic techniques. This paper presents a short review on the applications of the evolutionary computing tools and bio-inspired techniques for solving communication engineering problems. Primarily, the design issues of electromagnetic systems and techniques in image processing are summarised and the discussion is confined to these areas only.

Keywords: Communication engineering problems; Multi-objective; Thresholding; Electromagnetics

    Introduction

Meta-heuristic approaches are not problem specific or otherwise treated as problem independent techniques. Hence the take the credit of providing solutions which are sustainable as well as affordable with high degree of reliability and modularity. A design problem typically takes the design variables as inputs which define the dimension of the problem and the solution space. The objectives define the desired response of the system along with constraints. The block diagram governing this process is as shown in Figure 1.

In many cases, the problems are multi-variable and MultiObjective (MO). However, in most of the cases, the MO problems are converted to single objective with weighted functions for simplicity where as the actual solution lies in the MO treatment. While transforming the MO problems to single objectives the corresponding objective values may not be of same type and scale. Hence specific normalization should be incorporated in order to establish unbiased approach. The most significant part of solving a design problem using EC techniques is the problem statement which transforms the synthesis issue in to an optimization, prediction, forecasting, classification or modelling problem. Globally any engineering problem can fit to one of this category [1].

    Application areas

Image processing

In image processing, these EC techniques are widely used for de-noising, watermarking, compression, restoration, enhancement and analysis. Particularly capable of performing feature extraction, classification, clustering and pattern recognition. The technique uses adaptive thresholding in wavelet transformation of the image. The threshold distribution is determined by the population based EC technique. The objective function computes the cost in terms of the image metrics like peak signal to noise ratio, structural similarity index and mean square error. Generally the process should necessarily have the knowledge of the source image to model the channel where the image gets corrupted. In such cases, training images are first used, because a copy of these in its original un-corrupted form is available with the processing end. However, intelligent methods based on adaptive non-local means with no 'noise-free' image as reference are proposed using these techniques [2].

Electromagnetics

In thefield of electromagnetic, these evolutionary computing tools are applied to antenna design problems. The design problems are classified as either modelling or optimization. They either involve in designing the radiating system for desired radiation characteristics or optimizing one of the characteristics with respect to other. The concept of evolvable antennas is almost made possible with these non-conventional techniques where the antenna design is automated according to the requirements of the environment and applications like space technology. On the other side, the antenna arrays are capable of controlling radiation pattern for desired main beam-width and side-lobe level with proper modifications of geometrical and electrical properties of the array. An antenna array synthesis problem involves in determining weights for the geometrical properties like spacing (d) between elements or electrical properties like current excitation and phase excitation that produces desired radiation pattern. Many conventional numerical techniques which are derivative based are proposed for such array synthesis. These conventional techniques have tendency to stuck in the local minima as most of them are local search methods. Moreover, the final solution is dependent on the initial solution. If the initial value is chosen such that its solution lies in the region of solution space that is close to local minima, then the local search gives the best of poor local solution that are available and often fail to handle multimodal or multi objective problems. In the recent past several meta-heuristic algorithms are proposed to overcome the computational complexity and its drawback. These algorithm are versatile and also robust [3,4].

    Conclusion

From the above discussion it is possible conclude that almost any design and synthesis problem can coined as modelling or optimization problem and can be solved using EC techniques. These techniques are simple with no complex computation involved and are efficient in providing global solution with capability to handle multi-modal problems. These techniques are the latest trends in problem solving in the fields of image processing and electromagnetics. From the design point of view, as the approach is meta-heuristic, it is possible to visualize the problems with a common or categorised perspective.

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Evidence-Based Instructional Strategies in Learning Review

Keywords: Germination; Plant density; Seed quality; Water regime

    Introduction

Active learning instructional strategies include a wide range of activities that normally share some common elements that entail involving students in doing things and thinking about the things they are doing [1]. Essentially, active learning must engage the learners actively as failure to do so may lead to low rates of comprehension. At the high school level, learners have already developed different learning methodologies, but the teacher should not assume they will involve themselves in active learning without being guided effectively [1]. A robotics and computer programming teacher need to guide learners closely and actively so that they can grab applicable knowledge and skills in robotics as well as computer systems and programming.

As a teacher of the said subject, learners cannot completely comprehend without being involved in real work such as programming and coding. Robotics and computer programming must involve some practical work so as to improve the rates of comprehension. More so, the teacher needs to make them think about what they are doing before they can evaluate the outcomes such as running a program through a text editor. Doing so enables the learners to understand the theory behind the practical sessions [1]. It is worth point out that active learning not only involves active engagement of the learner but also other processes and strategies such as exploring personal attitudes, thinking critically, and giving feedbacks among others as will be looked into in the following sections.

    Discussion

Active learning instructional strategies encompass numerous methodologies that may be applied by a teacher or an instructor. The methodologies applied may vary from one subject to another, but the teacher should be able to choose the most effective for the learners [2]. For instance, for a robotics and computer programming teacher, he or she must be able to choose strategies that will boost the comprehension rates. Learners have negative attitudes towards robotics and computer programming and hence the teacher should be able to motivate them effectively. In order to do so, one needs to introduce topics and allow learners’ time to reflect and analyze while also allowing them time to ask questions they may have [2]. More so, it is imperative to allow learners to shortly discuss among themselves the topics and concepts as a means of making them feel motivated and involved.

It is imperative to point out that active learning instructional strategies can be created and used to engage students in various processes as follows. First, they must be involved in thinking critically and creatively [2]. Robotics and computer programming is a field that calls for creative and critical thinking so that one can understand and apply the theory and basic skills learnt. For instance, computer programming starts with designing algorithms which are then translated to a computer program. In order to do so, the learners must be made to think critically and creatively. A teacher will need to motivate learners through a number of approaches such as guiding them through examples while allowing them to ask any questions, allowing group and peer discussions, and providing them with extra materials that will boost their creativity such as reference books [2]. Additionally, it is important for a teacher to ensure that the learners get rid of their negative attitudes that may hinder their creative and critical thinking.

Second, active learning can also be attained through giving and receiving feedback. This process should take place as early as learning begins so as to ensure that any issues are sorted out before they transition to bigger issues [2]. For instance, learners may want to suggest new reference materials or approaches that may seem better during class work. In this regard, the teacher should pay attention to the learners’ feedbacks and suggestions which may be helpful in the whole learning process. In doing so, the teacher is able to learn about students’ concerns and issues and hence adopt strategies and mechanisms which will effectively address their needs. Further, when an instructor or a teacher attends to suggestions and feedbacks of the learners, the latter feel motivated and inspired to learn and hence will develop a very positive attitude about the course. It is worth pointing out that receiving feedbacks from learners is one of the major ways through which the teacher and the students should communicate. Through communication, the teacher learns much about the students which is highly important [2]. However, a teacher should implement other methodologies that will improve the communication such as encouraging learners to ask more questions in class as well as making any new suggestions.

Third, active learning instructional strategies also involves involving learners in reflecting upon the learning process [3]. Learning about robotics and computer programming must involve reflection so that students will not quickly forget about concepts learnt in class. Notably, reflection should not only be done in class but also out of class. While in class, the teacher should engage learners in quick tests and note taking as a means of reflection. However, it is imperative to point out that learners should be allowed to interact among themselves so as to share concepts and ideas. While out of class, the teacher should allow interactions with the learners through emailing and should be there to answer questions that may be asked while also guiding them through personal tests and exercises as a means of reflection.

Fourth, active learning instructional strategies also involve spending greater proportion of time helping students develop their understanding and skills [3]. In robotics and computer programming learners must be made to effectively understand and gain skills. In order to attain such a goal, the teacher needs to support surface learning while also providing opportunities for learners to apply and demonstrate their understanding. Without making them demonstrate their understanding, it may be challenging for the teacher to evaluate learners’ strengths and weaknesses which need to be known before going forward. Essentially, the teacher needs to be ensure that the learners completely understand the basics which are very important in the robotics and computer programming field.

For a robotics and computer programming teacher, he or she must be able to transform a traditional classroom into an interactive classroom so as to promote active learning instructional strategies. The course is about gaining skills and in-depth understanding and hence a teacher must be able to promote interactions in classrooms. In order to do so, the following approaches will need to be employed.

First, the teacher can adopt the pause procedure which normally entails promoting greater student engagement through pausing procedure where the instructor pauses for a few minutes to allow students to work in pairs to discuss concepts and rework their notes [3]. For instance, in Robotics, there are concepts such as software-hardware integration that may seem challenging to the learners. However, if learners could be allowed to discuss among themselves, it may seem easier for them to comprehend. When using the pause procedure, it imperative to point out that the instructor or the teacher should pause in intervals that will bring about the best outcomes [3]. For instance, pauses should be made after introducing new concepts and topics so as to allow learners enough time for reflecting. More so, pauses should be made to allow discussions before learners can undertake individual short tests. The pause procedure is highly effective in promoting class interactions which are highly needed in a classroom setting.

Second, the teacher can adopt the think-pair-share methodology which also promotes active interactions in learning. It often begins when information is shared through reading an assignment and then a teacher poses a single questions and students are instructed to reflect and note it through note taking [3]. They are then instructed to pair with peers so as to share their responses. The pairs can then join creating groups which then reflects and discusses their responses. The approach is very effective in making learners to get used to group work and helpful interactions that tend to promote their understanding. More so, the approach is also applicable when dealing with large classes where attending to the needs of each and every learner may not be possible during class work [3]. Further, the approach enables learners to improve their interpersonal and communication skills.

Third, the teacher can also use concept tests as an approach towards attaining active learning. In robotics and computer programming, learners should be encouraged to understand the concept as opposed to memorizing them. Concept testing enables conceptual understanding and it is done at predetermined intervals where a challenging conceptual question is posed in a multiple-choice format [4]. Learners are encouraged to work together so as to come up with the final answer collaboratively. They can share their answers and responses with other groups as a means of interaction. In order to fully promote conceptual understanding, the teacher should make a follow up and explain to learners why a certain answer is the most suitable. In case of robotics and computer programming, the teacher can offer some practical tests that aim at testing conceptual understanding.

Additionally, the teacher can implement a personal response system, which is an exciting new way of engaging learners closely. For instance, clickers can be used as avenues for facilitating personal responses. Currently, the teacher can apply other approaches that can attain better personal responses in a timely manner so that the teacher can learn about the plight of every student. It is important to note that personal response systems cannot work effectively while in class as they are prone to more time consuming which may not be available [4]. Hence, the teacher can make a follow up to learn more about students especially those with negative attitudes about class projects and assignments.

Further, classroom demonstrations have become subtle in teaching robotics and computer programming. A teacher needs to explicitly demonstrate about computer systems and robotics in class so that learners can harmonize theory with practicals. During introduction, demonstration may not be necessary as such, but the teacher must be able to make the learners understand what specifically the course will entail [4]. As learners gain an in-depth knowledge about computer programming and robotics, it is imperative for the teacher to demonstrate meticulously. For instance, in computer programming, the teacher must be able to demonstrate how a program is compiled and debugged. Doing so enables the learners to quickly grab what the whole procedure entails. On-screen demonstrations to the students will be most applicable. Every step and process should be explained and learners encouraged to ask questions regarding what is being demonstrated [4]. During demonstrations, the instructor or the teacher should ensure that all learners are keenly paying attention and focusing on what is being demonstrated. Doing so will allow uniformity in the learning process.

On the other hand, it is always good practice when a teacher employs illustrative excerpts in stimulating critical and creative thinking. In today’s classrooms, learners are looking for new ways of doing things and hence any creativity will be welcomed warmly [4]. For instance, an illustrative excerpts may be used to explain how a certain program is compiled and debugged. More so, they can be used to explain how software and hardware relate in a robotic system. Illustrative excerpts help make the classroom lively while also making learners feel motivated and excited. In most cases, popular film excerpts and video-vignettes may be used before a concept can be explained so as to promote conceptual understanding.

In addition, use of illustrative excerpts in classroom should also involve making learners connect course content to current events. Doing so enables learners to develop a clearer sense of personal relevance and significance of the course [4]. It has been established that learners’ are likely to develop a negative attitude towards a course if they feel it has no practical relevance in their daily lives. It is the duty of the teacher to make the learners connect the course content to the outside world so that they can feel the urge and need to understand the concepts introduced through the course [4]. Learners with a positive attitude are more eager and motivated to learn and hence will effectively cooperate.

Research findings have pointed out that students’ concentration and focus tend to decline after 10-15 minutes of the session [4]. In this regard, it is the duty of the teacher to effectively exploit the time when learners are most attentive. This is the time when learners are most likely to understand the concepts introduced. After this time, the teacher needs to introduce demonstrations and practicals which will basically entail connecting the concepts to real work [4]. For instance, in robotics and computer programming, there are numerous concepts that need to be understood by the learners. However, the teacher needs to come up with strategies that will ensure learners are able to effectively comprehend a concept and apply through the following active learning instructional strategies.

In a classroom setting, it is important for the teacher to ensure that there are sufficient resources such as computer desktops needed for the coding. If resource-sharing is to apply, the teacher should ensure the resources have been shared optimally. More so, it is imperative for the teacher to ensure that all learners are keen and ready for the class session. A quick and random check is enough to enough to ensure that learning can begin. A teacher should not enter a classroom and immediately start introducing new concepts. Normally, he or she should first involve the teachers in some form of interaction as a means of drawing their attention to the class session.

Use of video-vignettes among other illustrative excerpts can also apply in drawing the learners’ attention in a manner which does not make them feel challenged or demotivated [4]. A teacher should be able to choose materials that relate to the learners’ experiences and expectations. Essentially, the teacher must hook up learners before new concepts and practices can be introduced. Doing so prepares the learners for a class session. As earlier highlighted, active learning does not only encompass methodologies applied in classroom but also approaches that aim at closely engaging the learners and making them feel motivated.

Teaching robotics and computer programming should also entail application of technological tools that will boost the learners’ conceptual understanding. Currently, most high schools are already deploying technological tools in learning but have not keenly examined the applicability of those tools. In this regard, it is highly important for the teacher to choose technological tools that will help learners develop a new interest and creativity while learning. For instance, the teacher can guide the learners through internet resources that have additional information, questions, answers and links that will complement the content learnt in class [4]. However, it is imperative to point out that the teacher must discern legitimate and illegitimate sources and should guide the learners in distinguishing between the two sources. More so, the teacher can ask the learners to confirm with him or her when seeking additional resources from the internet.

It is important to note that the internet cannot be overlooked when it comes to active learning instructional strategies especially in courses such as robotics and computer programming [5]. The internet is a powerful tool that has diverse resources that will be applied in complementing what has been learnt in class. In order for the teacher to avoid unlikely outcomes such as learners spending time on the internet on materials that may not help them complement classroom content, he or she should guide the leaners in exploiting the internet resources [5]. More so, the teacher ought to do so in line with school’s policies. Essentially, so that a teacher can effectively promote conceptual understanding, he or she must involve learners in doing things while also making them think about what they are doing.

Active learning instructional strategies are helpful in learning but lead to a number of challenges as follows. First, one cannot cover as much content within the time available [6]. This means that a teacher needs to strike a balance between using the tools and covering as much course content as possible. This can best be done through planning and scheduling which will enable effective time allocation. Second, it has been established that using the tools requires extensive pre-class preparation. A teacher should have enough time for the preparations to avoid shortcomings that may hamper effective learning. In order to prepare sufficiently, the teacher should also plan and schedule for activities [6]. Third, large class sizes have also been established as challenges to active learning instructional strategies. Employing tools such as personal response systems cannot be effective when the class size is larger than normal. In such a case, the teacher must create groups whose collective concerns and needs will be addressed during classwork [6]. Additionally, insufficient materials and equipment to support active learning instructional strategies negatively impacts the learning process. A teacher should be able to share resource available optimally among learners. Other additional challenges are students’ resistance to new approaches and some teachers lacking enough time to prepare for class sessions [6]. It can be seen that most of the challenges can be addressed through school’s administration collaborating with teachers to formulate working strategies.

    Conclusion

Active learning instructional strategies encompass tools that aim at engaging students actively while also making them think critically about what they are doing. The strategies cannot be attained without the teacher transforming a traditional classroom into an interactive one where learners are able to interact not only with their peers but also teachers. A teacher needs to choose tools that will be applied in demonstrations and collecting feedbacks from learners as well as motivating them. Students must be motivated so as to get rid of negative attitudes that may hamper their conceptual understanding. In courses such as robotics and computer programming, the teacher must demonstrate and must involve learners in sessions that help them acquire skills as opposed to memorizing concepts. The teacher should design strategies and methodologies that will help engage learners both in classroom and outside classroom. He or she must also guide them in exploiting resources such as internet in complementing the course content. On the other hand, implementing active learning instructional strategies faces some challenges such as large class sizes, limited time, and insufficient resources and materials which must be dealt with through a teacher’s collaboration with the school’s administration.

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Special Design of Heavy Mass Base Foundations Methods in Rocks and Clay Soil Sub-Surfaces Techniques

Abstract

These paper constitute consists of parts of foundations design of under and sub structural plans. First of all, foundations are the lowest artificially prepared parts of the structures which are in direct contact with ground surfaces are known as Foundations. But its different categories for the zones of ground ability. Most of the foundations are normal status and load distribution neutralizations in normal bearing values of depends upon the soils. But rocks and clay soil zones areas not suited for normal sub structural design methods. Its followed by high precious design sections and execute the better results. And followed design methods is used for high precious focus in mountain and steep constructions, Water-bearing area, it's also better suitable in heavy constructions mass base foundation methods of high rise buildings system.

Keywords:   Rock boring; Grout hole; Anchorage bolting systems; Mass base trapezoidal foundations designs

    Introduction

The soil ground on which the foundation's rest is that foundation bed or foundation soil and it ultimate bearing of loads and interact with the foundations of structure [1]. Case study and objective of foundations to distribute the total load coming on the structure on a large area as well as great supported on the structure and required enough stability of the structures against various disturbing forces such eradicated climatic barriers. And to prepare the level of surfaces for concreting and masonry work. Inspections of sites its desirable to recognize the site of works and inspect them carefully from the viewpoints of foundation details [2]. And to analyse the nature and thickness of strata of soil may be estimated by studying the excavation detail of nearby constructionor by examining the open side of a nearby well etc. the general inspection of site of works serves of a good guide for determining the type of foundation to be adopted for the proposed work and in addition, it helps in getting the data with respects to used for design purposes. That following data is used for items. The behaviour of ground due to variation in depth of water table, Capacity of percolation of storm water at the site, nature of the soil and visual analyzation, movement of ground due to any reason [3]. Examinations of grounds, The load of the structure is ultimately transferred to the soil it becomes, therefore, essential to know the quality and thickness of soil undergrounds and such as a study would assist in selecting an economical but safe design for the foundation of the structure [4].

    Methods

That Figure 1& 2 represents the special form of trapezoidal foundation mass basements and deep grout anchorage systems. Its, essentially high interlock grip effect with substructures to superstructures. Its typically handled in 50mm deep boreholes and required depth essentially carrying out of deep boring for big important engineering structure [5]. Its methods anchor bolts rock concrete grout such as the addition to the of the ability of superstructure, importance is to be given to various other factors such as the same application in dams. Boring is followed by the 2-methods, Percussions boring machines and core rotary equipment.

In this process, the heavy cutting tool is dropped into the ground by means of a series of blows. That method used to prefer in a semi layer hard rock soil and rock layer zones areas. The broken rock material is brought to the ground by adding water into the core and then the paste is lifted to the ground. The material thus obtained is made dry and it is then examined. The percolations of boring machines is very much use of hard rock zones areas [6], And another condition it is very old method better results values and created a large number of vibrations in heavy blowing. Some problems cracking in nearest structures.

Core and rotary drilling machines

In this process, a hollow tube is driven by rotary motion which cuts a solid core. Water is used to facilitate the cutting process [7], That machines can be used either for soft or hard rocks materials. If the tube passes through a hard material, the core is retained and this has to be cut at the bottom and lifted up [8], This is done by pouring sand at the inner side between the core and inner surface of the tube and then the tube is slightly rotated [9], The core is then broken and caught in the tube along with sand and it is lifted up.

Anchorage bolts and concrete systems assembly

After the 25 to 50mm boreholes and provided the bolting anchorage rods used in the rock in required foundations depths [10], And its mostly used in peikko anchorage systems in better in rock foundation methods. At one head of fixed bolt head into the provided in required depth of rock. And after pouring the settling concrete. And setting properly and to tighten the top of the bolting rod. Its better frictions joints of the basement and foundations to substructures levels [10]. Referred the design approach of followed in ASTM, A36, A307 (Grade B), A325, A449 and A687 [11]. Used in concrete. The Bolt threads at the surrounded closing stages of apiece threaded steel bar are stake at top and bottom places below the grave curse nut. That concrete is placed in well-hardened status in 14- days after to tightening to bolt rotation.

Rock grouting

Boreholes in sufficient number are driven in the ground. The concrete grout is then forced under pressure through these bore holes [12]. These any of crack fissures of the rock are thus filled up, resulting in the increased of bearing power of rock. Its process aided to some other chemical treatment certain chemicals are used in place of cement grout to solidify the but this process is adopted by small-scale construction is costly it is only in case of important building.

Figure 3 & 4 Represents the Mass Trapezoidal basement foundations on clay and clayey soils. Clay and clayey soil is a partial work in cohesive and cohesive less in seasonal climatic conditions [13]. It is highly preferred in irrigations systems and not preferred in shallow foundations. That foundation is broadly shallow spread over the construction site area. Its possibly to constructed foundations are termed trapezoidal basement foundation. In such spread case of overall in a raft. And to assemble the assembly structural column sections. Its high economical evaluation in compared to other pile foundations better load transparent in cohesive soils.

Design criteria of special mass basement footing

The total load to be transmitted by the walls or columns to the foundation beds. The results of foundation pits and the corresponding bearing capacity of each stratum of soil [14]. It respects to 2 aspects.

Width of foundations

A width of the special footing basement is decided by adopting the following rules:

If no footing is to be provided to the constructional site area, it will provide the assumption columns should be provided in required depth and equal areas as shown in Figure 1. The total load including dead load and wind load coming on the columns per meter length at are in case of heavy construction the load aspects in the centre of the basement, it worked out. Then the width of the foundation is obtained from the following relation.

a. For column,

The width of foundation basement = {Total load per meter length /allowable bearing capacity of the soil}

b. For piers,

The width of foundations basement = {Total load on the pier/allowable bearing capacity of the soil}

Usually, the wall, columns, piers are given with of basements connects to plinth level. By adding the width of offset of concrete, the total width of foundation can be obtained. And this width of increased bearing pressure is vice versa to increase Table 1.

Depth of foundations

As a general rule, all the heavy mass base foundation should be taken to a minimum depth of 80 cm below natural ground level unless the hard soil is available within 80 cm. the total load is transferred to the soil per square meter can be worked out and after the study of the results of the trial pits, the foundation should be taken to such a depth at which the soil has an allowable bearing capacity greater than the value. The depth of foundations can also be obtained by drawing the lines of angles 450 and 600 as shown in Table 2. Rafting methods are increased the bearing power of soil becomes very useful when the load coming on the soil is practically uniform while soil yielding nature.

    Conclusion

It is a final conclusion of the paper is special mass base heavy foundation technique is followed by critical soil and Rock category suitable preferred of the important structure. Such structure has to be designed for heavy loads and ordinary methods of providing foundations may not be suitable for structure. In that such case, methods handling in special heavy basement footings is resisted to heavy loads and increased the bearing capacity pressure of soil. That concept of a method of increasing the bearing power of clayey soil becomes useful, especially when there is used in a ground floor structure.

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Defense Mechanisms of Plants to Insect Pests: From Morphological to Biochemical Approach

Abstract

The plants defend themselves against insect herbivores through utilizing the combination of direct defense traits and indirect defense approaches. Direct defense is involved both physical and chemical barriers which synergistically obstruct insect herbivore's growth, development, reproduction, etc. The indirect defense approach has no direct impact on insect herbivores but suppress pests by releasing volatile compounds that attract natural enemies of the herbivores. Plant defense against insect herbivores is just one of multiple layers of interactions. Together with plants, these players are involved in complex interaction networks. To elucidate these fascinating interactions biochemical, ecological as well as molecular studies, and combinations thereof, are required.

Keywords:  Insects; Defense mechanisms; Biochemical defense; Secondary metabolites; Induced defense mechanisms

Abbreviations:  PIs: Proteinase Inhibitors; BXs: Benzoxazinoids; HIPVs: Herbivore Induced Plant Volatiles; CDPK: Calcium-Dependent Protein Kinases

    Introduction

Insects are one of the dominant forms of life in terms of the number of species and of individuals. Plants can have different types of interactions with insects, such as antagonistic interactions with herbivores and mutualistic interactions with carnivorous and pollinating insects. Plants can defend themselves against insects by employing a 'do-it- yourself' strategy and/or by enlisting 'bodyguards' that attack herbivores. These plant strategies can be present constitutively or they can be induced by herbivory. Inducible defenses result in variable plant phenotypes and consequently in variable types of interactions with insects [1].

Plants respond to herbivore through various morphological, biochemical, and molecular mechanisms to counter/offset the effects of herbivore attack. According to Oerke [2], each year there is a huge crop yield loss by different insect pests around the world. Therefore, understanding the defensive systems or mechanisms of plants enables development of resistant crops or pest management systems reducing the need of hazardous pesticides and supporting safer crop production. Another positive effect would be a reduction of the development of pesticide resistant pest strains.

Insect herbivores have traditionally been divided into generalists (polyphagous) that feed on several hosts from different plant families, or specialists (monophagous and oligophagous), which feed on one or a few plant types from the same family. The generalists tolerate a wide array of defenses present in most plants, while they cannot feed on certain plants that have evolved more unique defense mechanisms. Specialists, on the other hand, use a specific range of host plants releasing defense compounds that at the same time may function as feeding stimulants and provide ovipositioning cues [3].

Pegadaraju et al [4] stated that, the defensive mechanisms in plants operate at different levels. They vary from external defenses like thorns to complicated chemical responses leading to poisoning of the attacker. To overcome the insect attack, plants produce specialized morphological structures or secondary metabolites and proteins that have toxic, repellent, and/or anti nutritional effects on the insect pests. In addition, plants also release volatile organic compounds that attract the natural enemies of the herbivores [5].

Resistance factors for direct plant defense against herbivorous insects comprise plant traits that negatively affect insect preference (host plant selection, oviposition, feeding behavior) or performance (growth rate, development, reproductive success) resulting in increased plant fitness in a hostile environment. Such traits include morphological features for physical defense, like thorns, spines, and trichomes, epicuticular wax films and wax crystals, tissue toughness, as well as secretory structures and conduits for latices or resins. They also include compounds for chemical defense, like secondary metabolites, digestibility reducing proteins, and anti nutritive enzymes. All these traits may be expressed constitutively as preformed resistance factors, or they may be inducible and deployed only after attack by insect herbivores. The induction of defensive traits is not restricted to the site of attack but extends to non-infested healthy parts of the plants. The systemic nature of plant responses to herbivore attack necessitates a long-distance signaling system capable of generating, transporting, and interpreting alarm signals produced at the plant-herbivore interface. Much of the research on the signaling events triggered by herbivore has focused on tomato and other solanaceous plants. In this model system, the peptide system in acts at or near the wound site to amplify the production of jasmonic acid. Jasmonic acid or its metabolites serve as phloem-mobile long-distance signals, and induce the expression of defense genes in distal parts of the plant [6].

    Host Plant Defenses against Insects

Plants respond to insect attack through an intricate and dynamic defense system that includes structural barriers, toxic chemicals, and attraction of natural enemies of the target pests. Both defense mechanisms (direct and indirect) may be present constitutively or induced after damage by the insects. Induced response in plants is one of the important components of insect pest control in agriculture, and has been exploited for regulation of insect herbivore population.

Induced defenses make the plants phenotypically plastic, and thereby, decrease the chances of the attacking insects to adapt to the induced chemicals. Changes in defensive constituents of a plant on account of insect attack develop unpredictability in the plant environment for insect herbivores, which in turn, affects the fitness and behavior of the insects. If induced response occurs very early, it is of great benefit to the plant, and reduces the subsequent herbivore and pathogen attack, besides improving overall fitness of the plant. Plants with high variability in defensive chemicals exhibit a better defense compared with those with moderate variability [7].

Direct defenses

Plant structural traits such as leaf surface wax, thorns or trichomes, and cell wall thickness/and lignification form the first physical barrier to feeding by the insects, and the secondary metabolites such act as toxins and also affect growth, development, and digestibility reducers form the next barriers that defend the plant from subsequent attack. Moreover, synergistic effect among different defensive components enhances the defensive system of plants against the insects' invaders. For example, in tomato, alkaloids, phenolics, Proteinase Inhibitors (PIs), and the oxidative enzymes when ingested separately result in a reduced affect, but act together in a synergistic manner, affecting the insect during ingestion, digestion and metabolism. In a wild tobacco (Nicotiana attenuate), trypsin proteinase inhibitors and nicotine expression, contributed synergistically to the defensive response against beet armyworm (Spodoptera exigua) [7].

Morphological features for physical defense

Insect herbivores from all feeding guilds must make contact with the plant surface in order to establish themselves on the host plant. It is therefore not surprising that physical and chemical features of the plant surface are important determinants of resistance. All plant parts offer some sort of resistance against herbivory. They range from tissue hardness to highly complex glandular trichomes and spines. Epicuticular wax films and crystals cover the cuticle of most vascular plants. In addition to their important role in desiccation tolerance, they also increase slipperiness, which impedes the ability of many non-specialized insects to populate leaf surfaces. The physical properties of the wax layer as well as its chemical composition are important factors of preformed resistance [6].

Based on different findings, plant structures are the first line of defense against insect pests, and play an important role in host plant resistance to insects. The first line of plant defense against insect pests is the erection of a physical barrier either through the formation of a waxy cuticle, and/or the development of spines, setae, and trichomes. Structural defenses includes morphological and anatomical traits that confer a fitness advantage to the plant by directly deterring the herbivores/ insects from feeding, and range from prominent protrubances on a plant to microscopic changes in cell wall thickness as a result of lignification and suberization. Structural traits such as spines and thorns (spinescence), trichomes (pubescence), toughened or hardened leaves (sclerophylly), incorporation of granular minerals into plant tissues, and divaricated branching (shoots with wiry stems produced at wide axillary angles) play a leading role in plant protection against insect pests. Sclerophylly refers to the hardened leaves, and plays an active role in plant defense against herbivores by reducing the palatability and digestibility of the tissues, thereby, reducing the herbivore damage.

Spinescence includes plant structures such as spines, thorns and prickles. It has been reported to defend the plants against many insects. Pubescence consists of the layer of hairs (trichomes) extending from the epidermis of the above ground plant parts including stem, leaves, and even fruits, and occur in several forms such as straight, spiral, stellate, hooked, and glandular. Chamarthi et al. [8] reported that leaf glossiness, plumule and leaf sheath pigmentation were responsible for shoot fly (Atherigona soccata resistance in sorghum Sorghum bicolor (L. Moench).

Trichomes

The plant epidermis is often covered by outgrowths called trichomes. They are found in all major groups of terrestrial plants. They originate from epidermal tissue and then develop and differentiate to produce hair-like structures [9]. Trichomes play an imperative role in plant defense against many insect pests and involve both toxic and deterrent effects. Trichomes density negatively affects the ovipositional behavior, feeding and larval nutrition of insect pests. In addition, dense trichomes affect the insect mechanically, and interfere with the movement of insects and other arthropods on the plant surface, thereby, reducing their access to leaf epidermis. These can be, straight, spiral, hooked, branched, or un-branched and can be glandular or non-glandular. Glandular trichomes secrete secondary metabolites including flavonoids, terpenoids, and alkaloids that can be poisonous, repellent, or trap insects and other organisms, thus forming a combination of structural and chemical defense.

Induction of trichomes in response to insect damage has been reported in many plants [10]. This increase in trichomes density in response to damage can only be observed in leaves developing during or subsequent to insect attack, since the density of trichomes of existing leaves does not change. A given authors reported that damage by adult leaf beetles (Phratora vulgatissima) in Salix cinerea plant induced higher trichome density in the new leaves developing thereafter. Likewise, increase in trichome density in S. cinera in response to coleopteran damage has also been reported. Increase in trichome density after insect damage has also been reported in Lepidium virginicum L. and Raphanus raphanistrum L. In black mustard, trichomes density and glucosinolate levels were elevated after feeding by small white butterfly (Pieris rapae). Furthermore, change in relative proportion of glandular and non-glandular trichomes is also induced by insect.

Leaf and root toughness and quantity

Leaf toughness interferes with the penetration of plant tissues by mouthparts of piercing-sucking insects and increase mandibular wear in biting-chewing herbivores [11]. The cell walls of leaves are also reinforced during feeding through the use of different macromolecules, such as lignin, cellulose, suberin and callose, together with small organic molecules, such as phenolics, and even inorganic silica particles. Roots eaten by insect herbivores exhibit extensive regrowth, both in density, as seen in Trifolium repens eaten by Sitona lepidus (clover root weevil), and in quantity, as observed in Medicago sativa (alfalfa) attacked by clover weevil (Sitona hispidulus). The former might be caused by additional lignification that could increase the toughness of the roots. In addition, genotypes with long fine roots suffered less from herbivory compared to genotypes with short and thick roots.

Secondary metabolites for chemical defense of plants

Plants produce a large and diverse array of organic compounds that appear to have no direct functions in growth and development i.e. they have no generally recognized roles in the process of photosynthesis, respiration, solute transport, translocation, nutrient assimilation and differentiation. These compounds or chemicals play a significant role in direct defense impair herbivore performance by one of two general mechanisms: these chemicals may reduce the nutritional value of plant food, or they may act as feeding deterrents or toxins. There has been considerable debate as to which of these two strategies is more important for host plant selection and insect resistance. An important part of this debate concerns the extent to which variation in the levels of primary and secondary metabolites has evolved as a plant defense [12]. Plant primary metabolism, which is shared with insects and other living organisms, provides carbohydrates, amino acids, and lipids as essential nutrients for the insect.

Secondary metabolites are the compounds that do not affect the normal growth and development of a plant, but reduce the palatability of the plant tissues in which they are produced. The defensive (secondary) metabolites can be either constitutive stored as inactive forms or induced in response to the insect or microbe attack. The former are known as phytoanticipins and the latter as phytoalexins (antimicrobial compounds synthesized by plants that accumulate rapidly at areas of pathogen infection). The phytoanticipins are mainly activated by p-glucosidase during herbivory, which in turn mediate the release of various biocidal aglycone metabolites. The classic examples of phytoanticipins are glucosinolates that are hydrolyzed by myrosinases (endogenous p-thioglucoside glucohydrolases) during tissue disruption. Other phytoanticipins include Benzoxazinoids (BXs), which are widely distributed among Gramineae. Hydrolyzation of BX-glucosides by plastid-targeted p-glucosidases during tissue damage leads to the production of biocidal aglycone BXs, which play an important role in plant defense against insects. Phytoalexins include isoflavonoids, terpenoids, alkaloids, etc., that influence the performance and survival of the insects. The secondary metabolites not only defend the plants from different stresses, but also increase the fitness of the plants. It has been reported that maize to corn earworm, Helicoverpa zea is mainly due to the presence of the secondary metabolites C-glycosyl flavone maysin and the phenylpropanoid product, chlorogenic acid. Compound, 4, 4- dimethyl cyclooctene has been found to be responsible for shoot fly resistance in sorghum [8].

Study on secondary metabolites could lead to the identification of new signaling molecules involved in plant resistance against insect pests. Ultimately genes and enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of these metabolites could be identified. Some of the secondary metabolites in plant defense will be the following.

Plant phenolic compounds

Among the secondary metabolites, plant phenols constitute one of the most common and widespread group of defensive compounds, which play a major role in host plant resistance against insects. Phenols act as a defensive mechanism not only against insects, but also against microorganisms and competing plants.

Lignin, a phenolic heteropolymer plays a central role in plant defense against insects and pathogens. It limits the entry of pathogens by blocking physically or increasing the leaf toughness that reduces the feeding by insects, and also decreases the nutritional content of the leaf. Lignin synthesis has been found to be induced by insect or pathogen attack and its rapid deposition reduce further growth of the pathogen or insect fecundity.

Plant defensive proteins

Ecologically, in insect-plant interaction, interrelationship between two is important for the survival of the both. Insects always look for a true and healthy host plant that can provide them proper food and could be suitable for mating, oviposition and also provides food for the offspring's. The nutritional requirements of insects are similar to other animals, and any imbalance in digestion and utilization of plant proteins by the insects' results in drastic effects on insect physiology. Alteration of gene expression under stress including insect attack leads to qualitative and quantitative changes in proteins, which in turn play an important role in signal transduction, and oxidative defense. Many plant proteins ingested by insects are stable, and remain intact in the mid gut, and also move across the gut wall into the hemolymph. An alteration in the protein's amino acid content or sequence influences the function of that protein. Likewise, anti-insect activity of a proteolysis- susceptible toxic protein can be improved by administration of protease inhibitors (PIs), which prevent degradation of the toxic proteins, and allows them to exert their defensive function. Better understanding of protein structure and post- translational modifications contributing to stability in the insect gut would assist in predicting toxicity and mechanism of plant resistance proteins. Recent advances in microarray and proteomic approaches have revealed that a wide spectrum of plant resistance protiens is involved in plant defense against insects.

Plant lectins

Lectins are carbohydrate-binding (glyco) proteins, have protective function against a range of pests. The insecticidal activities of different plant lectins have been utilized as naturally occurring insecticides against insect pests. One of the most important properties of lectins is their survival in the digestive system of insects that gives them a strong insecticidal potential. They act as antinutritive and/or toxic substances by binding to membrane glycosyl groups lining the digestive tract, leading to an array of harmful systemic reactions. Lectins are stable over a large range of pH and damage the luminal epithelial membranes, thereby interfere with the nutrient digestion and absorption (Table 1).

Flavonoids

Flavonoids are cytotoxic and interact with different enzymes through complexation. Both flavonoids and isoflavonoids protect the plant against insect pests by influencing the behavior, and growth and development of insects.

Tannins

Tannins have a strong deleterious effect on phytophagous insects and affect the insect growth and development by binding to the proteins, reduce nutrient absorption efficiency, and cause mid gut lesions. Tannins are astringent (mouth puckering) bitter polyphenols and act as feeding deterrents to many insect pests. They precipitate proteins nonspecifically (including the digestive enzymes of insects), by hydrogen bonding or covalent bonding of protein NH2 groups. In addition, tannins also chelate the metal ions, thereby reducing their bioavailability to insects. When ingested, tannins reduce the digestibility of the proteins thereby decrease the nutritive value of plants and plant parts to insects. Role of tannins in plant defense against various stresses and their induction in response to insect damage has been studied in many plants.

Proteinase inhibitors

Proteinase inhibitors (PIs) cover one of the most abundant defensive classes of proteins in plants. Higher concentration of PIs occurs in storage organs such as seeds and tubers, and 1 to 10% of their total proteins comprise of PIs, which inhibit different types of enzymes and play an important role in plant defense against insect. PIs bind to the digestive enzymes in the insect gut and inhibit their activity, thereby reduce protein digestion, resulting in the shortage of amino acids, and slow development and/or starvation of the insects. The defensive function of many PIs against insect pests, directly or by expression in transgenic plants to improve plant resistance against insects has been studied against many lepidopteran and hemipteran insects. The success of transgenic crops in expressing PIs against insect pests has accentuated the need to understand the mechanisms, and interactions of multiple PIs with other defenses, and the adaptive responses of the insects (Table 2).

Enzymes

Enzymes also one of the important aspects of host plant resistance against insects is the disruption of insect's nutrition. The enzymes that impair the nutrient uptake by insects through formation of electrophiles includes peroxidases, polyphenol oxidases, ascorbate peroxidases, and other peroxidases by oxidizing mono or dihydroxyphenols.

Indirect Defenses Methods

The defensive response in plants to attract natural enemies of insects plays a pivotal role in protecting the plants against insect attack. Indirect defenses can be constitutive or induced as a result of combined action of mechanical damage and elicitors from the attacking herbivore. Production of volatiles and the secretion of extra floral nectar mediate interactions of plants with natural enemies of the insect pests (i.e., parasitoids

or predators), which actively reduce the numbers of feeding herbivores. Induced indirect defenses have received increasing attention recently and have been studied on the genetic, biochemical, physiological, and ecological levels.

Herbivore induced plant volatiles (HIPVs)

In this case plants indirectly defend themselves from insect feeding by emitting a blend of volatiles and non-volatile compounds. Insect induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) play an important role in plant defense by either attracting the natural enemies ofthe insects or by acting as feeding and/or oviposition deterrent. HIPVs are the lipophilic compounds with higher vapor pressure which are released from the leaves, flowers, and fruits into the atmosphere, and into the soil from the roots by plants in response insect attack. The HIPV's produced vary according to the plant and insect species, the developmental stage and condition of the plants and the insects. An optimum quantity of volatile compounds is normally released by the plants into the atmosphere, whereas a different blend of volatiles is produced in response to insect. The volatile blend released by plants in response to insect attack is specific for a particular insect-plant system, including natural enemies and the neighboring plants. The HIPVs mediate the interactions between plants and arthropods, microorganisms, undamaged neighboring plants, or intraplant signaling that warns undamaged sites within the plant (Figure 1). Depending upon the modes of feeding of insect pests, different defense signaling pathways are activated, which induce the production of specific volatile compounds [13].

Defense elicitors (insect oral secretion)

Plants undergo a dynamic change in transcriptomes, proteomes, and metabolomes in response to herbivore- induced physical and chemical cues such as insect oral secretions and compounds in the oviposition fluids. It is generally believed that insect-induced plant responses are mediated by oral secretions and regurgitates of the herbivore. The defenses generated by various elicitors differ based on the type of the elicitor and the biological processes involved. A potential elicitor of herbivore-induced plant volatiles from the regurgitate of Pieris brassicae L. larvae has been identified as β-glucosidase which results in emission of a volatile blend from mechanically wounded cabbage leaves that attract the parasitic wasp, Cotesiaglomerata (L.) [14].

Role of phytohormones in induced resistance in plants

Plant defense against insect attack involves many signal transduction pathways that are mediated by a network of phytohormones. Plant hormones play a critical role in regulating plant growth, development, and defense mechanisms. A number of plant hormones have been implicated in intra- and interplant communication in plants damaged by insects. Most of the plant defense responses against insects are activated by signal- transduction pathways mediated by jasmonic acid, salicylic acid, and ethylene. Specific sets of defense related genes are activated by these pathways upon wounding or by insect feeding. These hormones may act individually, synergistically or antagonistically, depending upon the attacker (Figure 2).

Jasmonic acid is the most important phytohormone linked to plant defense against insects and activates the expression of both direct and indirect defenses. Jasmonic acid is derived from linolenic acid through octadecanoid pathway and accumulates upon wounding and herbivory in plant tissues. Chewing of plant parts by insects causes the dioxygenation of linoleic acid and linolenic acid.

Jasmonic acid has also been reported to affect Calcium- Dependent Protein Kinases (CDPK) transcript, and activity in potato plants. CDPKs comprise of a large family of serine/ threonine kinases in plants (34 members in Arabidopsis) and play an important role in plant defense against a variety of biotic and abiotic stresses through signal transduction [15]. In addition to the role played by jasmonic acid in direct resistance against insect pests through the induction of various defensive compounds, its role in indirect resistance has also been well established.

Ethylene is an important phytohormone, which plays an active role in plant defense against many insects. Ethylene signaling pathway plays an important role in induced plant defense against insects and pathogens both directly and indirectly. Ethylene signaling pathway works either synergistically or antagonistically, with jasmonic acid in expression of plant defense responses against pathogens and herbivorous insects. It has been reported that Ethylene and jasmonic acid work together in tomato in proteinase inhibitors expression.

Generally, different plant elicitors induced in plants upon herbivory undergo different signal transduction pathways. For example, Calcium ions (Ca2+), reactive oxygen species, etc.

    Conclusion and Future Perspective

In all natural habitats, plants are surrounded by an enormous number of potential enemies (biotic) and various kinds of a biotic environmental stress. Nearly all ecosystems contain a wide variety of bacteria, viruses, fungi, nematodes, mites, insects, mammals and other herbivorous animals, greatly responsible for heavy reduction in crop productivity. By their nature, plants protect themselves directly by developing different morphological structure and by producing some compounds called as secondary metabolites. Plant mechanical defenses act negatively on herbivores insects, diminishing their larval and adult performance. Generally, a plant character may present two or more roles at least in some phase of a plant's life history. I discussed a few cases where pubescence, tissue texture, crystals, latex, waxes and resins are effective against insect herbivores. Secondary metabolites, including terpenes, phenolics and nitrogen (N) and sulphur (S) containing compounds, defend plants against a variety of herbivores and pathogenic microorganisms as well as various kinds of abiotic stresses.

An understanding of induced resistance in plants can be utilized for interpreting the ecological interactions between plants and herbivores and for exploiting in pest management in crops. Since the biochemical pathways that lead to induced resistance are highly conserved among the plants, the elicitors of these pathways could be used as inducers in many crops. The future challenge is to exploit the elicitors of induced defense in plants for pest management, and identify the genes encoding proteins that are up and/or down regulated during plant response to the herbivore attack, which can be deployed for conferring resistance to the herbivores through genetic transformation. However, before using an elicitor effectively in agricultural systems, it is important to understand the chemical changes they induce in the plant, the effect of these chemicals on the herbivores especially in the field, and to see if there is any alteration in plant growth and yield. The Eco- genomic approach which includes association and correlation studies, natural selection mapping, and population genomics enables the estimation of variable selection at loci, and differentiates this from processes acting on the whole genome, such as migration and genetic drift.

From a biotechnological, food-developmental, and breeding point of view, understanding the defense systems of plants and learning how to apply the knowledge is of course of huge interest. For instance, modifications of the jasmonic acid pathway have been proposed [16]. However, due to the extensive crosstalk with other hormone signaling pathways, increased resistance against one certain insect herbivore might result in susceptibility towards another. Furthermore, some defense responses might have negative effects on the environment and humanity as well, as they involve toxic bioactive natural products and proteins reducing digestibility of plant material. Still, reducing the need for synthetic insecticides, by developing crop plants resistant to insect herbivores, would be of significant gain for the food and production industry, both at an economical and environmental level.

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Investigation of Temperature Effects on Microstructure of Pure Titanium

Abstract

In this study, pure titanium powders were sintered by sealing in quartz tubes vacuumed from oxygen for 4 hours at 3 different temperatures by using powder metallurgy method. Temperature values selected for sintering of samples are 900oC, 1000oC and 1150oC respectively. SEM, EDX, XRD tests were performed for microstructure analysis of samples produced by powder metallurgy, and finally, the effects of sintering temperature on the microstructure of pure titanium were determined by measuring the Vickers hardness values of the samples. According to the results obtained, the sintering temperature has great effects on the microstructure of pure titanium. In addition, the Vickers value measured for 900 0C as 263 kgf/mm2, for 1000oC as 382 kgf/mm2 and finally 528 kgf/m m2 for 1150oC temperature sintering.

Keywords:Pure-Ti; Sintering Temperatures; Microstructure; Powder Metallurgy

    Introduction

Titanium is the most widely used implant of recent years, because of its protective effect on between bond and tissue during implantation, also triggering the formation of calcium ions around it and accelerating bone formation [1]. Titanium also experiences an allotropic α-phase to β-phase transformation at a temperature of 882oC, which causes the most important mechanical properties of the metal to be changed, particularly the flexibility. There is no guarantee that the metal undergoing allotropic transformation will remain in a continuous β-phase structure [2]. When the metal descends to room temperature, all of the weak β-phase structures can be transformed into α-phase structures. This critical transformation can be vital for these metals used in human tissues and organs [3]. Also, the microstructure of titanium implants is known to have important effects on the most important parameters of the implant, such as corrosion. Even though titanium allotropic conversion begins at 882oC, a stable microstructure at this temperature may not be possible. Therefore, it is very important to discover a temperature and homogeneous microstructure in titanium metal and a temperature value in which the elevated B phase region coexists. In this case, it has been found suitable for the same metal types to increase the small sintering temperature by starting the experiment at the temperature value where allotropic conversion starts. Therefore, in this study, starting from the allotropic transformation temperature value, three pure titanium were produced at 900oC, 1000oC and 1150oC temperatures respectively. Analyses of the samples were compared by XRD, SEM, Micro Hardness measurements. In order to produce pure titanium metals, powder metallurgy has been the chosen method for the production, considering its success in producing metals with high melting temperatures.  

    Experimental Methods

The powders of the metals used in this study were obtained from the Nanography company. Characteristic properties of these powders are Titanium (Ti) Purity: 99.9%, Size: 100 mesh, density 4,507 g/cm3. The metal powders pressed in an 11mm diameter pellet die for 30 minutes at 20Mpa pressure. The pressed sample sintered in oxygen vacuumed environment. The sintering process was carried out at 900oC, 1000oC and 1150oC for 4 hours respectively. sintered sample is given in Figure 1.  

X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) was performed for phase analysis of Pure Titanium and Cobalt alloys produced by powder metallurgy. Measurements were made using XRD-6100 Shimadzu, XRD scanning Range (100-900), Cu X-ray tube target, voltage = 40.0 (kV) and current = 30.0 (mA) measurement details used. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to compare the sample (P/M) particle size, pore diameters, and oxide content. The surface morphology of the samples was observed using an area emission scanning electron microscope (FEI XL30 Sirion). Hardness measurements, (Micro Hardness Tester FM-310e) was used to obtain the hardness values of the surface of the samples. Hardness values were taken under 100g load for 10 sec. Hardness values were taken from 5 different points on the surface of the sample. The average of 5 Vickers values was accepted as the final hardness value.  

    Results and Discussion

SEM And EDX Analysis

Figure 2 shows XRD pattern of pure titanium diffractometers sintered at 900°C, 1000°C, 1150°C respectively. Accordingly, targeted Titanium diffractometers were achieved at all 3 temperatures. The XRD cards of the titanium structures obtained were found to be 00,044,1294> Ti for all 3 samples. It is seen that α-Ti (hcp) structures are transformed to β-Ti (bcc) structures with increasing sintering temperature. Finally, the final β-Ti phases are formed at 1150°C.

Figure 3 (f) An example is provided for EDX analysis of samples. As can be seen in the picture, there is a dominant Titanium peak, and there is no oxidation in samples. SEM images of pure titanium metals produced at three different temperature values (900°C, 1000°C and 1150°C) have a more stable surface morphology. Furthermore, the pore structures seen in this sample appear to be more uniform and closer to spherical geometry. It is seen that pore diameters and grain size values decrease as sintering temperature increases.

Micro Hardness Tester

The Vickers hardness tester is the test engine that least damages the sample among the material tests. Similar properties have been reported between the Vickers hardness and mechanical properties of a material. Hardness measurements, Vickers hardness Notch machine (Micro Hardness Tester FM-310e) was used to obtain the hardness values of the surface of the samples. The hardness values were taken under a load of 100g for a 10-sec holding time. Hardness values were taken from 5 different points on the surface of the sample. The average of 5 Vickers values was accepted as the final hardness value. The average hardness values were given at Table 1.

    Conclusion

Pure titanium powders are produced by powder metallurgy at different temperatures. As the sintering temperature increased, the β-phase region increased in the samples, particle sizes and pore diameters decreased and finally micro hardness values increased. Homogeneous microstructure was obtained in all three samples.

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Impact of Consciousness Healing Treatment on Physical, Thermal and Spectroscopic Properties of Copper Chloride

Abstract

Copper plays an important role in development, normal functioning, iron absorption and transport, and immune function in human body. It is given in the supplements in the form of copper chloride to avoid the cupper deficiency associated symptoms. This study was designed to analyse the impact of the Trivedi Effect®-Energy of Consciousness Healing Treatment on copper chloride regarding its physical, thermal, and spectral properties. For this, the copper chloride sample was distributed in two halves, in which one part was termed as control sample and kept untreated. The other part was named as Biofield Energy Treated sample and it received the Trivedi Effect®-Biofield Energy Healing Treatment remotely by the renowned Biofield Energy Healer, Mr. Mahendra Kumar Trivedi. Consequently, the control and treated samples were analyzed for any change with the help of PXRD, DSC, TGA/DTG, FT-IR, and UV-Vis analytical techniques. The PXRD analysis of the treated sample showed the significant changes in the crystallite sizes from -8.35% to 30.78% along with 5.27% increase in the average crystallite size compared with the control sample. Similarly, the relative peak intensities of the Biofield Energy Treated sample showed alterations in the range from -38.00% to 527.54%, compared to the control sample. The DSC analysis revealed the increase in melting point of the treated sample (193.10°C) by 1.76% compared to the control sample (189.76°C) with 13.94% increase in the latent heat of fusion (ΔH). Also, the treated sample showed increase in the decomposition temperature by 3.96% with a significant 35.22% reduction in the enthalpy of decomposition, compared with the control sample. Besides, The TGA/DTG analysis showed the alterations in the weight loss of Biofield Energy Treated sample by -1.03, -24.44, and 2.35% in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd step, respectively. The Tmax values of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd peaks of the Biofield Energy Treated sample were increased by 4.68, 1.88, and 4.06% compared to the control sample. The thermal analysis revealed the increase in thermal stability of the treated sample after the Biofield Energy Treatment. Additionally, the spectral analysis including FT-IR and UV-Vis analysis did not reveal any significant difference between both the samples. The overall study concluded that the Trivedi Effect®- Energy of Consciousness Healing Treatment may help in developing a different polymorphic form of copper chloride, which might have improved thermal stability and safety profile along with better bioavailability compared to the control sample.

Keywords:  Copper chloride; The Trivedi Effect®, Energy of Consciousness Healing Treatment; PXRD; DSC; TGA/DTG; FTIR

    Introduction

The role of minerals elements in the human body plays an important role in various body functions. However, data suggest that about 98% of the human body mass is made up of nine non-metallic elements. The essential trace elements are boron, cobalt, copper, iodine, iron, manganese, molybdenum, and zinc. Copper is defined as one of the major and essential trace element that plays an important role in the body such as iron absorption and its transport. Copper is important component of the ceruloplasmin that has a ferroxidase-like activity [1,2]. Copper deficiency results in anaemic state because bone marrow develops iron deficient in spite of having enough iron stores in the body. In addition, copper is important for normal development of the skeleton [3], functioning of the central nervous system [4,5], taste sensation [6], and for skin pigmentation [4]. In addition to various human body function, copper is the third most abundant dietary trace metal after iron and zinc. Copper is also helpful in production of red and white blood cells and it is the component of various enzymatic processes. Iron can be significantly utilized in the body using copper, which is very much important for the growth of infants, development of the brain, immune system and strong bones [7]. Copper is present in many foods such as nuts, legumes, shellfish, and liver [8]. However, the malnourished infants may have been reported with copper deficiency along with those children that were dependent on cow’s milk, which has the low content of copper [9].

Different health agencies around the world have set standards for daily copper intake in the diet, which is defined according to different stages of life such as pregnant women, infant, adult, age, sex, and children [10]. Neutropenia and hypochromic anemia have been reported due to copper deficiency. Besides, different skeletal abnormalities were also reported that include osteoporosis, thickening of cartilage in costo-chondral junctions, cupping of the metaphysis, spontaneous factures, and hair pigmentation [11,12]. Copper deficiency may lead to neurological derangements such ashypotonia, psychomotor retardation, and periods of apnea [13]. Therefore, WHO (World Health Organization) reported in 1973 that the daily copper oral intake should be as 30μg/kg/ day (about 2mg/kg) in normal adults and 80μg/kg/day in infants [14]. Besides, the copper absorption in the body depends upon various factors such as gut absorption and its interaction with other nutrients. However, it was reported that only 40% of the oral dietary intake of copper is absorbed in stomach and duodenum [2]. Hence, copper chloride is considered as a copper supplement, which helps in maintaining the level within the body and preventing the depletion of endogenous stores as well as the deficiency symptoms. In recent days, the Biofield Energy Treatment has been a very useful approach in terms of the alteration in the absorption and bioavailability as well as the stability profile of any compound.

US National Institutes of Health (NIH) defined the term Biofield and its associated treatment approaches, which falls under Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM). It is defined as an organizing principle for the dynamic information flow, which regulates various biological function and homeostasis [15]. Over the past few decades, many energy healing practices has been reported significant outcomes in various clinical and non-clinical fields. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCAM) defined different Energy Healing therapies under the sub-division of CAM with many advantages in addition to other therapies, medicines and practices [16] such as natural products, deep breathing, yoga, Tai Chi, Qi Gong, chiropractic/osteopathic manipulation, meditation, massage, special diets, homeopathy, progressive relaxation, guided imagery, acupressure, acupuncture, relaxation techniques, hypnotherapy, healing touch, movement therapy, pilates, rolfing structural integration, mindfulness, Ayurvedic medicine, traditional Chinese herbs and medicines, naturopathy, essential oils, aromatherapy, Reiki, cranial sacral therapy and applied prayer (as is common in all religions, like Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Judaism) [17,18]. Biofield Healing Treatment as a CAM reported with significant results in biological studies [19].

In addition, Biofield Energy Healing Treatment (the Trivedi Effect®) by renowned Biofield Energy Healer has been reported and compared with significant outcomes. Hence, Biofield Energy Healing is increasingly promoted and accepted worldwide in order to promote human wellness and improve quality of life [20]. The Trivedi Effect®-Consciousness Energy Healing Treatment has been reported with significant results in the field of chemistry [21,22], pre-clinical pharmacology [23], and pharmaceutical compounds [24], skin health [25,26] and many more. Thus, the objective of this study was to determine the effect of Biofield Energy Treatment (the Trivedi Effect®) on the physicochemical, thermal, and spectroscopic properties of copper chloride with the help of various analytical techniques such as, powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), FT-IR, and UV-visible spectroscopy.

    Materials and Methods

Chemicals and Reagents

Copper (II) chloride (cupric chloride) was purchased from VETEC, Sigma-Aldrich, India. All other chemicals used during the experiments were of analytical grade available in India.

Consciousness Energy Healing Treatment Strategies

The test compound i.e., copper chloride was taken and divided into two parts. In this, one part did not receive the Biofield Energy Treatment and named as control copper chloride. Besides, the other part of the test compound received the Energy of Consciousness Healing Treatment by the renowned Biofield Energy Healer, Mr. Mahendra Kumar Trivedi (USA), and it was considered as the Biofield Energy Treated copper chloride. In this process, the sample was placed under the standard laboratory conditions and the Healer provided the Trivedi Effect® - Energy of Consciousness Healing Treatment to the sample, remotely, for ~3 minutes through the Unique Energy Transmission process. Consequently, the control sample was subjected to “sham” healer under the similar laboratory conditions, who did not have any knowledge about the Biofield Energy Treatment. Later on, the control and Biofield Energy Treated samples were kept in similar sealed conditions and characterized with the help of PXRD, DSC, TGA/DTG, FTIR, and UV-Vis analytical techniques.

Characterization

Powder X-ray Diffraction (PXRD) Analysis

The PXRD analysis of control and Biofield Energy Treated samples of copper chloride was done using PANalytical X’Pert3 powder X-ray diffractometer, UK. The copper line was used as the source of radiation for diffraction of the analyte at 0.154 nm X-ray wavelength that is running at 40 mA current and 45 kV voltage. The instrument uses a scanning rate of 18.87°/second over a 2θ range of 3-90° and the ratio of Kα-2 and Kα-1 was 0.5 (k, equipment constant). The data was collected using X’Pert data collector and X’Pert high score plus processing software in the form of a chart of the Bragg angle (2θ) vs. intensity (counts per second), and a detailed table containing information on peak intensity counts, d value (Å), full width half maximum (FWHM) (°2θ), relative intensity (%), and area (cts*°2θ). The crystallite size (G) was calculated by using the Scherrer equation (1) as follows:

Where, k is the equipment constant (0.5), λ is the X-ray wavelength (0.154nm); b in radians is the full width at half of the peaks and θ is the corresponding Bragg angle.

Percent change in crystallite size (G) of copper chloride was calculated using following equation 2:

Where, GControl and GTreated are the crystallite size of the control and Biofield Energy Treated copper chloride samples, respectively.

Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC)

The DSC analysis of the samples was performed using DSC Q2000 differential scanning calorimeter, USA under the dynamic nitrogen atmosphere with flow rate of 50mL/min. For analysis, 2-4 mg sample was weighed and sealed in Aluminum pans. Further, it was equilibrated at 30°C and heated up to 450ºC at the heating rate of 10ºC/min under Nitrogen gas as purge atmosphere [27]. The value for onset, end set, peak temperature, peak height (mJ or mW), peak area, and change in heat (J/g) for each peak was recorded. Later on, the percent change in melting temperature (T) of the control and Biofield Energy Treated samples was calculated using following equation 3:

Where, TControl and TTreated are the melting temperature of the control and Biofield Energy Treated copper chloride samples, respectively.

Also, the percent change in the latent heat of fusion (ΔH) was calculated using following equation 4:

Where, ΔHControl and ΔHTreated are the latent heat of fusion of the control and treated copper chloride, respectively.

Thermal Gravimetric Analysis (TGA) / Differential Thermogravimetric Analysis (DTG)

TGA/DTG thermograms of control and Biofield Energy Treated copper chloride samples were obtained using TGA Q500 themoanalyzer apparatus, USA under dynamic nitrogen atmosphere (50mL/min). It involves the heating rate of 10ºC/ min from 25°C to 800°C and uses platinum crucible [27]. In TGA analysis, the weight loss in gram as well as percent loss for each step was recorded with respect to the initial weight of the sample. Later on, in DTG analysis, the onset, endset, peak temperature and integral area for each peak was recorded. The percent change in weight loss (W) was calculated using following equation 5:

Where, WControl and WTreated are the weight loss of the control and Biofield Energy Treated samples, respectively.

Also, the percent change in maximum thermal degradation temperature (Tmax) (M) was calculated using following equation 6:  

Where, MControl and MTreated are the Tmax values of the control and Biofield Energy Treated samples, respectively.

Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) Spectroscopy

FT-IR spectroscopy of copper chloride was performed on Spectrum ES Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (Perkin Elmer, USA) by using pressed KBr disk technique with the frequency array of 400-4000 cm-1. The technique uses ~2mg of control sample and about 300 mg of KBr as the diluent to form the pressed disk followed by running the sample in the spectrometer. The same procedure was used for the Biofield Energy Treated sample.

Ultraviolet-visible Spectroscopy (UV-Vis) Analysis

The UV-Vis spectral analysis of the control and Biofield Energy Treated copper chloride samples was carried out using Shimadzu UV-2400PC SERIES with UV Probe (Shimadzu, JAPAN). The spectrum was recorded in the wavelength range of 190-800 nm using 1cm quartz cell having a slit width of 0.5nm. The absorbance spectra (in the range of 0.2 to 0.9) and wavelength of maximum absorbance (λmax) were recorded.

    Results and Discussion

Powder X-ray Diffraction (PXRD) Analysis

Figure 1 includes the PXRD diffractograms of control and Biofield Energy Treated copper chloride samples. The diffractograms of both the control and Biofield Energy Treated samples showed very intense and sharp peaks that represents the crystalline nature of the samples. Additionally, the diffractograms were analysed and the PXRD data such as Bragg angle (2θ) relative peak intensity (%), and FWHM were collected (Table 1) for calculating the crystallite size (G) of both the control and Biofield Energy Treated copper chloride. The Scherer equation [28] was used for the calculation of crystallite sizes across various planes in both the control and Biofield Energy Treated samples.

adenotes the percentage change in the relative intensity of Biofield Energy Treated sample with respect to the control sample; bdenotes the percentage change in the crystallite size of Biofield Energy Treated sample with respect to the control sample.

The PXRD diffractograms of the Control and Biofield Energy Treated samples showed highest peak intensity (100%) at Bragg’s angle (2θ) equal to 16.3° (Table 1, entry 1). The relative intensity of the PXRD peak at 2θ equal to 43.1° (Table 1, entry 11) in the Biofield Energy Treated sample was significantly decreased by 38%, compared to the control sample. However, the relative intensities of the other PXRD peaks (Table 1, entry 2-10 and 12-14) in the Biofield Energy Treated sample were significantly increased in the range from 8.01% to 527.54% compared to the control sample, which showed that the Biofield Energy Treatment might increase the crystallinity of the Biofield Energy Treated copper chloride sample. Besides, it was also analysed from the data that the crystallite sizes of the Biofield Energy Treated samples of copper chloride at 2θ equal to nearly 24.0°, 32.8°, 34.0°, 43.1°, and 49.1° (Table 1, entry 3, 6, 7, 11, and 13) were significantly increased from 7.68% to 30.78% with respect to the control sample. However, the crystallite sizes of the Biofield Energy Treated sample at 2θ equal to 38.1° (Table 1, entry 9) showed significant reduction by 8.35% as compared to the control sample. Also, the average crystallite size of the Biofield Energy Treated sample (31.95μm) was increased by 5.27% in comparison to the control sample (30.35μm). It is assumed that the Biofield Energy might be responsible for inducing the movement of crystallite boundaries, which causes crystal growth and thereby increased crystallite size. The significant alterations in the crystallite size and relative intensities of the Biofield Energy Treated sample indicated the modification in the crystal morphology as compared to the control sample. Some studies reported that such alteration in the crystal morphology due to changes in the relative intensities and crystallite size might indicate the presence of different polymorphs of the compounds and could be considered as the proof of polymorphic transition. Hence, the Biofield Energy Treatment probably introduced a new polymorphic form of the copper chloride with the help of energy transfer process [29]. Besides, any alteration in the crystal morphology might impact the dissolution and bioavailability profile of pharmaceutical/nutraceutical compound [30,31]. Thus, the Biofield Energy Treatment might improve the bioavailability profile of copper chloride.

Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) Analysis

The DSC thermograms of the control and Biofield Energy Treated samples of copper chloride are shown in Figure 2 and the results are presented in Table 2.

ΔH: Latent heat of fusion/ Enthalpy of decomposition, *denotes the percentage change of Biofield Energy Treated sample with respect to the control sample.

The DSC thermograms of the control and Biofield Energy Treated samples of copper chloride (Figure 2) showed the presence of an endothermic as well as an exothermic peak. The DSC curve of the control sample exhibited an endothermic peak at 189.76°C which represents the melting point of copper (II) chloride dihydrate [32]. However, the Biofield Energy treated sample showed this peak at a temperature of 193.10°C, which was reported to be increased by 1.76% compared as the control sample (Table 3). Besides, the latent heat of fusion (ΔH) of the Biofield Energy Treated copper chloride was also observed to be significantly increased by 13.94% compared to the control sample. Previously, it was reported that the copper (II) chloride dihydrate got decomposed above 300°C along with releasing the chlorine gas [33]. In this study, the thermogram of the control sample showed a sharp exothermic peak at 416.89°C, which was observed at higher temperature i.e., at 433.40°C in the Biofield Energy Treated sample; and assigned as the decomposition temperature of the copper (II) chloride dihydrate. Thus, the decomposition temperature of the Biofield Energy Treated copper chloride was found to be significantly increased by 3.96% along with a significant reduction (35.22%) of the enthalpy of decomposition, compared with the control sample. The DSC analysis revealed that the Biofield Energy Treated copper chloride sample require different amount of energy in the form of ΔH as compared to the control sample during the process of melting. Thus, it could be assumed that there might be some alterations induced by the Biofield Energy Treatment in the intermolecular forces of the compound that causes the altered ΔH in the Biofield Energy Treated sample, compared to the control sample. Moreover, it is also presumed that the Biofield Energy Treatment may be responsible for emission of less kinetic energy during the phase transition process of copper chloride from solid state to liquid state that may be responsible for increasing the ΔH in the Biofield Energy Treated sample as compared to the control sample. Hence, it could be concluded that the Biofield Energy Treatment might act by altering the potential as well as the kinetic energy of the molecules of copper chloride, which possibly resulted in altered ΔH and melting/decomposition temperature in the Biofield Energy Treated sample in comparison to the control sample.

Thermal Gravimetric Analysis (TGA) / Differential Thermogravimetric Analysis (DTG)

The TGA/DTG analysis helps in determining the thermal stability of the compounds with the help of the thermograms, which in this case are the control and Biofield Energy Treated samples (Figures 3 & 4). The analytical data related to the TGA and DTG analysis for the contro

Tmax: Maximum thermal degradation temperature, *denotes the percentage change in the weight loss of Biofield Energy Treated sample with respect to the control sample.

 The thermal degradation of copper chloride dihydrate salt was reported to be occurred in various steps, as firstly the compound loses its water molecules under a dynamic nitrogen atmosphere in the temperature range of 66 to 132°C at 10°C/min heating rate [32]. In this study, the TGA thermograms of the control and Biofield Energy Treated copper chloride showed three steps of thermal degradation (Figure 3). The analysis showed that in the 1st and 2nd step of degradation, the Biofield Energy Treated copper chloride has reduced weight loss by 1.03% and 24.44%, respectively; while it was increased by 2.35% in the 3rd step of degradation, as compared to the control sample (Table 3). However, the overall weight loss after thermal degradation was same for both the control and the Biofield Energy Treated sample. It revealed that the Biofield Energy Treated sample possessed significant higher stability till the 2nd step of degradation, as compared to the control sample.

Besides, the DTG thermograms of the control and Biofield Energy Treated samples (Figure 4) exhibited three peaks. The Tmax values of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd peaks of the Biofield Energy Treated sample were increased by 4.68, 1.88, and 4.06% compared to the control sample (Table 2). Overall, TGA/DTG revealed that the thermal stability of the Biofield Energy Treated copper chloride was significantly improved, compared to the control sample, which was also supported by the DSC analysis.  

Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) Spectroscopy

The FT-IR spectra of control and Biofield Energy Treated samples of copper chloride are presented in Figure 5.

There were clear stretching and bending peaks in the functional group and fingerprint region in the FT-IR spectra of both the control and Biofield Energy Treated copper chloride (Figure 5). There were peaks at 2924 cm-1 and 2854 cm-1 in the spectra of both the control and Biofield Energy Treated sample, which were assigned to the aliphatic C-H stretching. Besides, there were stretching frequencies in the fingerprint region of the control sample’s spectrum at and in the Biofield Energy Treated samples at 1377 cm-1 and 1460 cm-1. According to the literature, the metal halide stretching absorption band was found in the frequency region 750-1000 cm-1 in case of the inorganic materials. Thus, the peak at 722 cm-1 represents the metal halide stretching. It revealed that the fingerprint region of the control and Biofield Energy Treated sample was remained same. The FT-IR spectra did not display any changes in the vibrational frequencies thus, it may be concluded that there was no alteration in the structural properties of the Biofield Energy Treated copper chloride sample as compared to the control sample.

Ultraviolet-visible Spectroscopy (UV-Vis) Analysis

The UV-visible spectra of both, the control and Biofield Energy Treated copper chloride samples are presented in Figure 6.  

The maximum absorbance (λmax) in the UV spectra of both the control and Biofield Energy Treated samples was observed at 868nm. Thus, it revealed no significant alteration in the absorbance maxima between the control and Biofield Energy Treated sample. Hence, it might be concluded that there was no significant alteration in the electronic transitions between highest occupied molecular orbital and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital [34] of the Biofield Energy Treated copper chloride sample, induced by the Biofield Energy Treatment.

    Conclusion

The overall study revealed that the Trivedi Effect®-Energy of Consciousness Healing Treatment has the significant impact on the physical and thermal properties of copper chloride. The PXRD analysis revealed the alterations in the relative peak intensities of the Biofield Energy Treated sample in the range from -38.00% to 527.54%, as compared to the control sample. The similar alterations were observed in the crystallite sizes across various planes of the Biofield Field Energy Treated sample in the range from -8.35% to 30.78% along with 5.27% increase in the average crystallite size, as compared to the control sample. Such alterations in the relative peak intensities and crystallite sizes along the characteristic peaks of the Biofield Energy Treated sample suggested that the Biofield Energy Treatment might create some disturbances in the crystallinity as well as the pattern of the atoms across those planes. Besides, the DSC analysis of both the samples showed the thermograms including both the endothermic and exothermic peaks. The analysis revealed that the melting point of the Biofield Energy Treated sample (193.10°C) was increased by 1.76% as compared to the control sample (189.76°C) along with 13.94% increase in the latent heat of fusion. Also, the data showed that the decomposition temperature of the Biofield Energy Treated sample (433.40°C) was increased by 3.96% as compared to the control sample (416.89°C) along with 35.22% reduction in the enthalpy of decomposition. The overall DSC data showed that the thermal stability of the Biofield Energy Treated sample was improved, as compared to the control sample. Moreover, the TGA analysis of the copper chloride samples revealed three steps of thermal degradation in which, the Biofield Energy Treated sample showed significant reduction in the percentage weight loss in the 1st and 2nd steps of degradation by 1.03 and 24.44%, respectively; while it was increased by 2.35% in the 3rd step of degradation, as compared to the control sample. The Tmax values of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd peaks of the Biofield Energy Treated sample were increased by 4.68, 1.88, and 4.06% compared to the control sample. The overall thermal analysis showed that the thermal stability of the Biofield Energy Treated copper chloride was increased along with significant alterations in the internal energy of the molecules after the Biofield Energy Treatment. However, the FT-IR spectrum and UV-Vis analysis showed similar spectral pattern between the control and Biofield Energy Treated sample. Overall, the current analysis represented the significant impact of the Trivedi Effect®- Energy of Consciousness Healing Treatment on the physical and thermal properties of copper chloride. The Biofield Energy Treatment affected the crystallite size and crystallinity of the compound that might create a new polymorphic form of copper chloride. Additionally, the Trivedi Effect® showed its potential impact in increasing the thermal stability and internal kinetic energy of drugs which may help in designing the formulations having enhanced bioavailability, safety and stability profile. Therefore, the Biofield Energy Treated copper chloride may show better response against the copper deficiency and related diseases such as anemia, osteoporosis, pigmentation of skin, apnea, psychomotor retardation, hypotonia, etc.

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Landslide Hazard Analysis by Using Arc GIS and Google Earth: A Case Study of Province 5, Nepal

Abstract

Province 5 of Nepal is one of the vulnerable province to natural and human induced disasters like landslides. This research was objectively carried out to estimate the number and area of the landslide and find out the district, municipality and rural municipality wise spatial distribution of landslides in the study area. The visible scars of landslides were digitized using Google earth Pro 7.3.3 and further analyzed in Arc GIS 10.3. Altogether, 701 landslides were found in 12 districts with total area coverage of 1940.17 ha. The largest area cover of landslide was found in Dang district with 326.99 ha and the lowest area cover of landslide of 8.63 ha was calculated in Rupandehi district. The highest occurrence 44 landslides occurred in Naubahini Rural Municipality of Pyuthan district followed by Sandhikharka municipality of Arghakhanchi district and Ghorahi sub-metropolitan city of Dang district with 43 and 42 landslides respectively. In Bardiya district, Bardia National park had 57 landslides instances on area of 260.62 ha. The highest area covered by landslides was 191.36 ha in Bijayanagar Rural Municipality of Kapilbastu district, 119.14 ha in Lamahi Municipality of Dang district, 106.66 ha in Sunwal Municipality of Nawalparasi district and 102.9 ha in Putha Uttarganga Rural Municipality of Rukum East district. Overall, this research depicts landslide area of whole province 5 and will be helpful to assist in further decision making. This type of the study can be very useful without much fieldwork and saves huge amount of time and money.

Keywords:  Spatial distribution  Google Earth™ Arc GIS Landslides

    Introduction

Province 5 is one of the seven provinces established by the new constitution of Nepal. This province does not have an official database for landslides. Landslides, defined as the mass movement of rock, debris or earth down a slope [1], can be triggered by various external stimuli. Landslides are geologic hazards that occur on spatial and temporal scales in mountainous landscapes and are frequently responsible for considerable loss of life and property [2]. As one of the major natural hazards, landslides claim people’s lives almost every year and cause huge property damage in mountainous areas [3,4]. The characteristics of various types of landslides are important to develop appropriate mitigation measures in the mountainous terrain of Nepal because the problems of landslides are different in different physiographic, geologic and climatic zones [5]. The inherently weak geological characteristics of rocks and soils have made the Himalaya fundamentally a very fragile mountain [5] and the triggering factors such as rainfall and earthquakes play their role to make the mountain very vulnerable to landslides and other mass wasting processes. The Midland areas have been highly susceptible to landslide due to complex interaction of natural and man-made factors [6]. Due to the rugged mountain topography, complex and fragile na ture of geological formation, high intensity rainfall in the monsoon season, Nepal is vulnerable to landslides [5].

A Geographic Information System (GIS) is a computer system that provides the ability to capture and analyze spatial and geographic data. Traditional remote sensing data are difficult to interpret and also need large amount of time for further processing. With the introduction of Google Earth, visualizing the live data become easy and simple [8]. Google earth is used in diverse such as geology, public health, environment science, archaeological field to social and political issues like crisis management [9-12]. Google Earth is user friendly and free data source and many researchers also considered it as the democratization of GIS [8,13]. Google Earth is certifiably not an analytical tool hence it will not supplant GIS however it complements the GIS use, understanding this many GIS software developers are creating a slew of products that join its ease of use with their traditional analytic strengths [8]. If budget is a constraint in purchasing high resolution satellite imagery, then one could consider utilizing free Google earth images [14]. The landslide hazard mapping helps in timely mitigation and prevention of the risk factors associated with the landslides. Meanwhile, monitoring occurrence and condition of landslide in an extended geographical area requires significant amount of financial resource, human resource, and substantial amount of effort. Hence, remote sensing tools such as GIS can be used efficiently in determining and prioritizing the areas susceptible to the natural calamity such as landslide. Thus, this research was objectively carried out to estimate the number and area of the landslides and to find out the district, municipality and rural municipality wise spatial distribution of landslides in Province 5, Nepal.

    Materials and Methods

Study Area

Province 5 is one of the seven provinces established by the new constitution of Nepal which was adopted on 20 September 2015. Butwal city has been declared the interim state capital of Province 5. In total, it covers an area of 22,288 km2 It borders Gandaki province and Karnali province to the north, Sudurpashchim province to the west, and Uttar Pradesh of India tothe south. There are 12 districts, 4 sub-metropolitan cities, 32 municipalities, 73 rural municipalities and two national parks in the province. However, only those municipalities and rural municipalities were shown in the result section where landslide has been occurred (Figure 1).

Methods

This study is based on Remote Sensing data from Google Earth™ and its interpretation in ArcGIS 10.3 software.

1. Based on the availability of Google earth imagery, landslides were mapped in the month of July and August of the year 2018 AD.

2. The polygons from the Google Earth were converted into kmz file so that it could be further processed and analyzed in ArcGIS 10.3 software.

3. The area, distribution and the numbers of landslides occasions were analyzed. (Figure 2).

    Results

The map represents the landslides in Province 5 of Nepal. The red spots in the map show the landslide events. Most of the landslides were observed near to watershed areas. Altogether, 701 landslides occurred in 12 districts with total area coverage of 1940.17ha. The largest area cover of landslide was found in Dang district 326.99ha and the lowest area cover of landslide was in Rupandehi 8.63ha. The district summary of landslides with number and area coverage is given in the figure below (Figures 3 & 4) In Rolpa district 141 landslides occurred in area of 143.7ha, 119 landslides occurred in Dang district in area of 326.99ha and 92 landslides occurred in area of 142.67ha in Argakhachi district. In Pyuthan district 90 landslides occurred in area of 279.89ha, 72 landslides occurred in Palpa district in area of 109.61ha, 57 landslides occurred in Bardiya National Park in area of 260.62 ha and 43 landslides occurred in Gulmi district in area of 20.99 ha. In Nawalparasi district 25 landslides occurred in area of 190.25ha, 22 landslides occurred in Rukum-East district in area of 111.68ha, 19 landslides occurred in Banke district in area of 73.81 ha, 11 landslides occurred in Kapilbastu district in area of 271.33ha and 10 landslides occurred in Rupandehi district in area of 8.63 ha. Similarly, the table below shows the number and area of landslide in local level under 12 districts (Table 1). In Arghakhachi district, the highest number of landslides was 43 in Sandhikharka Municipality and highest area of landslide was 92.43ha in Sitganga Municipality. In Banke district, highest of 8 landslides with total area cover of 60.05 ha occurred in Rapti Sonari Rural Municipality. In Bardiya National Park 57 landslides occurred in 260.62 hectares. In Dang district the highest number of landslides was 42 in Ghorahi sub-metropolitan city and highest area of landslide was 119.14ha in Lamahi Municipality. In Gulmi district, highest number of landslides was 19 of Isma Rural Municipality and the highest area covered by landslide was from Satyawati Rural Municipality i.e. 7.33ha. In Kapilbastu district, highest number of 6 landslide occurred in Buddabhumi Municipality and highest area covered by landslides was 191.36 ha in Bijaynagar Rural Municipality.

In Nawalparasi west district, highest 19 landslides with total area cover of 106.66 ha occurred in Sunwal Municipality. In Palpa district, highest landslide occcurence was 43 in Tinau Rural Municipality with total area cover of 55.15ha. In Pyuthan district, highest number of 43 landslides occurred in Naubahini Rural Municipality with total area cover of 98.24ha. In Rolpa district, highest number of landslides was 26 in Tribeni Rural Municipality and the highest area cover of landslide was 40.87ha in Runtigadi Rural Municipality. In Rukum East district, highest number of 15 landslides occurred in Putha Uttarganga Rural Municipality with total area cover of 102.9ha. In Rupandehi district, highest number of 2 landslides occurred in Devdaha Municipality with an area cover of 4.35ha.

    Discussion

According to Nepal DesInventar report 2011, the most common type of disaster in the country is epidemic, followed by landslide and flooding. Since 1971-2010 AD, 2705 landslides are recorded with 4327 deaths and 1146 injuries [15]. According to Bhattarai et al. [16], a total of about 12,000 small- and large-scale landslides occur in Nepal every year, most of which often remain unnoticed and unreported mainly because of an inadequate information system, little economic impact, or little harm to humans and national infrastructure. The available data indicate that the annual rate of human deaths in landslides and related disaster events still stands at over 300 [17]. In Nepal, the number of landslide events peaks in the monsoon season, when they are triggered by high rainfall. Earlier Dixit [18] has prepared a landslide hazard map for Nepal which shows the mid hills were more susceptible to landslide. Between 1970 and 2018 in span of 48 years epidemics killed total 4,161 people in province number five; landslide alone killed 618 people, affected 66,512 families, 46 people went missing and 261 people were injured [19]. It is noteworthy that many small-scale disasters often go unreported. Among Mid-Hill and High Hill districts, Gulmi reported the greatest number of human causalities (142) followed by Pyuthan (132), Palpa (102) and Arghakhanchi (75) [19]. In terms of greatest number of families affected by landslides, Gulmi district has the highest number of deaths which is 19,713, followed by Arghakhanchi (10,564), Rukum (4,123), Palpa (3,948), and Rolpa (3,046) [19].

In our results, the number of landslides is high in districts Dang, Rolpa, Arghakhachi, Palpa and Pyuthan and according the area cover of landslide in all the ten districts excluding Banke and Rupandehi around 1 to 300 hectares is found under the effect of landslide. This result somehow matches with National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) to climate change report 2010, prepared by Ministry of Environment. According to the report, Ropla and east Rukum categorised as high landslide risk districts with index (0.630-0.786); Dang, Gulmi, Pyuthan and Arghakhachi are categorised as medium landslide risk districts with index (0.47- 0.629); Palpa is categorised as district with minimum landslide with index (0.001- 0.46); whereas Parasi, Banke, Kapilbastu, Rupandehi and Bardia are the districts with very minimum landslide risk [20].

    Conclusion

Since we lag in research regarding landslide, landslide mapping through Google earth and GIS would prove to be cost and time efficient. This data depicts landslide area of whole province 5 and assists in further decision making. Altogether, 701 landslides occurred in 12 districts with total area coverage of 1940.17 ha. Google Earth and GIS gives very important information on the spatial distribution of the landslide. It assists to set up priority areas for mitigation measures, helps in better understanding of the landslide as a hazard. Hence thistype of the study can be very useful in disaster prone areas for decision making and planning without much of a fieldwork saving huge amount of time and money.

    Limitations

Though the visuals were carefully observed, the lack of ground validation in this research and heavy reliance upon visual analysis only can subject this research to bias.

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Solubility and Toxicity Level of Monascus Pigments

Abstract

Research on Monascus pigments (MPs) has been progressing very rapidly. The progresses include the discovery of new pigments and methods used for isolating and identifying the new pigments. Currently, nearly fifty-seven new pigments have been found as derivations of the six main pigments existed. The process of new pigments discovery is unable to separate from that of fermentation or isolation process. In several new pigments, there was no complete information relating to solubility and level of toxicity. This research covers data of all fifty-seven new pigments including color, molecular weight, water solubility, log Kow (octanol-water partition coefficient), and baseline toxicity level by Ecological Structure Activity Relationships (ECOSAR) Program. These results are expected to give more comprehensive data about Monascus pigments.

Keywords: Monascus pigments; Solubility; Toxicity; Ecosar

    Introduction

Monascus Pigments (MPs) has long been used as a natural food colorant, especially in some Asian countries such as South China. Monascus produces red yeast rice, which is rice covered with a red Monascus sp. Angkak can be used as a dye for yoghurt, bacon, and sausage and also for the preservative of fruits, vegetables, and fish products [1].

  The Ecological Structure Activity Relationships (ECOSAR) is a computerized predictive system that estimates aquatic toxicity. The program estimates a chemical's acute (short-term) Result toxicity and chronic (long-term or delayed) toxicity to aquatic organisms, such as fish, aquatic invertebrates, and aquatic plants, by using computerized Structure Activity Relationships (SARs) [2].

    Materials and Methods

  Data collected from various studies that have been done before [3-5] and added with some of the data from ECOSAR results. This toxicity test on ECOSAR program was used to determine the toxicity against water organisms.

    Results

  As shown in Table 1, data showed that the lower log Kow of a compound, the lower of toxicity. And from the toxicity point of view, those of compounds to categorize having lower toxicity than others were LC50 and EC50 values>100mg/L. This was because the lower binding energy of a compound, the stronger bond between the receptor and that compound. It made the compound attach to biological membranes longer and more toxicable [2].

    Conclusion

Based on log Kow value of fifty-seven pigments of Monascus were determined, Red Pigment 8 has the lowest toxicity while Monapurones (B and C) have the highest toxicity.

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